Kingdom Hearts III: Online HD, Volume I
by Epic Networks
Summary: The game "KH3 Online HD" has chosen 13 KH fans to take on the forms of their 13 Keybearers from a new Keyblade War legend, to fight evil and save their worlds. This is the first volume to the epic quest across the Kingdom Hearts universe.
1. KHIII Online HD: Cast of Characters

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

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**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

**_-_**_KH3 Online HD: Cast of Characters**-**_

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_In the heart of Midlight City, a new game has emerged, and every gamer is raving about it. It's new. It's fresh. It's massively online. And it's everywhere._

_Thousands of KH (Kingdom Hearts ) fans got hooked on their next-gen console to witness the magic on hand._

_The title:_

_Kingdom Hearts III - Online HD._

_KH players from all over must create their alternate character--a KH character as they are called--if they are to withstand the pain, take on the challenge, and face the danger that this massive adventure across the many worlds of Kingdom Hearts has in store for them._

_Their mission is simple: they must gather up thousands of their fellow KH characters, skilled Keyblade Masters, into an imperishable stalwart army before a new threat seized that chance._

_What does that new threat seeks? Simple: their Hearts of Pure Bravery. Like the Hearts of Pure Light they are special. And those carrying such special hearts are able to wield the Keyblade and control the heart of all worlds._

_Kingdom Hearts._

**xXx**

**The Thirteen Keybearers (Original Characters)::  
**The main characters are young characters living on the prestigious Midlight City recruited from the _KH3 Online HD_ game as Keybearers to protect their homeland and the magical universe of Kingdom Hearts.

-**Rian Rivers/Johnny Thunder** _(Thunder/Light)_  
-**Talen Brightfire/Blazen** _(Fire)_  
-**Sierra Stellaserah/Ciel** _(Water)_  
-**Pierre Brock/Stone** _(Earth)_  
-**Taylor Mora/Soledad** _(Fire)_  
-**Violet Kitari/Flora** _(Wind)_  
-**Axel Joedo/Sharx** _(???)_  
-**Matt Salazar/Cross** _(Fire/Wind)_  
-**Kami Tsubasa/Naraku 'Death-Scythe' Shinigami** _(Death)_  
-**Tenshu Tsubasa/Kage 'Ruin' Rei** _(Magic)_  
-**Jean-Michel Elincio/Arctic** _(Ice)_  
-**Denzel/Aegis** _(???)_  
-**Trayne/Tandem** _(Speed/Ice)_

**The Blackheart Dominion (Original Characters)::  
**The main enemies of the game. They are also known as the Thirteen Keybearers with the attribute of Darkness, hence the Keybearers of Darkness, with a sole goal to capture the main characters' Hearts of Pure Bravery and the Princess of Hearts.

-**Maurchel, _The Superior _**(Dark)  
**-Samshall, _The Punisher_** (Thunder)  
-**Firias, _The Anger_** (Fire)  
-**Denzol, _The Demeanor _**(Earth)  
-**_Sage, The Calm_ **(Water)  
-**Percicle, _The Champion _**(Ice)  
-**Phantamis, _The Illusion _**(Wind)  
-**Tidicus, _The Charming _**(Love)  
**-Ivy, _The Poison_** (Nature)  
-**Aros, _The Mysterious_ **(Twilight)  
-**Alistare, _The Mastermind _**(Death)  
-**Nix **(Fear)

**The Mortal Characters (Original Characters)::  
**Recurring characters who share a mortal relationship with the main characters.

**-Milene Vitali  
-The US Secret Service  
-Principal Law  
-Skyler Vitani  
-Trishelle Banks  
-Rika Tsubasa  
-Noah Tsubasa  
-Halee Salazar  
-Selena  
-Duke Seven**

**Kingdom Hearts Characters::  
**Characters from the Kingdom Hearts series to make their appearances in the fanfic. List subject to change.)

**-Terra  
-Donald Duck  
-Goofy  
-Pluto  
-Snow White  
-Prince  
-The Seven Dwarves  
-The Queen  
-Magic Mirror  
-Chip and Dale  
-**_(New)_** King Mickey Mouse**

**

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****Next Chapter::** KH3 Online HD - Characters' Information**  
**


	2. KHIII Online HD: Characters' Information

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix.**

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in this chapter.  
**

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**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

**_-_**_KH__3 Online HD: Characters__' Information_**_-  
_**

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This is the Original Characters' Profile. Bear in mind that this particular chapter would be updated whenever a new OC is submitted, or any of the OC is modified by their respective authors.

**D-Link Helpers from Beyond::  
**

Summons are now D-Link helpers from beyond! Inspired by KH: Birth by Sleep, the summons submitted before will now be D-Link. Of course, their powers will still be within the stones, but by the time the respective heroes unleash their powers, they'll have an aura on them the shape of their shadows, ready to perform the Finish Move. The D-Link Helpers start by delivering the Bash first, then the Blitz second, then the Combos, and finally the Finish Mode, just like on BBS. Also as a bonus, the heroes will D-Link with their twins!

**Quick note about Summons:** Because Disney now owns many companies like Marvel and Miyazaki, characters from these places cannot be eligible. In another word, your summons, like all good Kingdom Hearts games, must be an _original_ Disney character. Just want to clear this up.

**Now accepting Mortal OCs (please read)::**

And yet you all get the chance to submit OCs again.

But here's the catch: The** OCs must be mortal! Remember that I no longer accept Keybearers OCs.**

That means the OCs must not be a KH Player or a Keybearer, or have some hidden powers, or _any _type of powers whatsoever. He/she must be all-human, all-natural. Only thing is he/she must have some sort of relationship with any of the 13 Keybearers and the 13 Blackhearts. (NOT the Sora/Roxas type of relationship. Again, that counts as magic person.) Just to clear that up.

The OCs Mortals will be added below The Thirteen Keybearers section of this page. The seat is unlimited, at least until I decide when I can't accept them again.

**_..._**

Here's the cast of OCs so far...

**_..._**

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**::ORIGINAL CHARACTERS::**

**_:::The Thirteen Keybearers:::_**

Thirteen teenagers from the real world, have been called together to join force into the _Kingdom Hearts universe, _through the MMORPG game _Kingdom Hearts III Online HD, _on a mission that could change the fate of the KH Worlds and their own. Can they live up to the real challenge of fighting with their lives against the ruthless ancient Keyblade-wielding Blackhearts Dominion, the same way they did inside the ever-popular game? Only time will tell.

On one additional note, the Keybearers' fighting style will be kinda similar to _KH:_ _Birth by Sleep's_ gameplay.

**_::Keybearer I :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
_**

**_Rian Rivers/Johnny "Thunder" Keyblade_**

Good guys call him Thunder. Bad guys call him Johnny. But no one knows a true KH player like Johnny Thunder's alter-ego Rian Rivers. Rian Rivers is a laid-back, free-spirited, yet gullible tall young man who doesn't think before he acts. He is also the comic relief of the people around him and tends to have people not taking him seriously. As Johnny Thunder, he is more introverted but still maintains the free-spirited persona of Rian; in other words, he has a bad-boy personality, and always finds success in wooing the ladies.

As Rian, his hair is a buzzcut blond, and he wears a white shirt with red colons and pockets, a beige hooded shirt with black zigzag pattern on its shoulders, a silver Chasers' necklace, baggy pants to match the hooded shirt and black Velcro shoes.

As Johnny Thunder, his hair is brown and spiky like Sora. He wears a silver tricked-out shirt with a large diamond-made spiky shoulderpad that reached down to his elbow from his left shoulder; silver baggy shorts, and silver shoes similar to Final Form Sora's. He also dons a cape that looked worn out. On occasion, he wears stylish sunglasses with dark-red lenses, giving him the sense of coolness.

Thunder is well-balanced when he fights. He can fight comfortably both in midair and on ground.

Another feature coming from Rian's not-thinking-before-acting's attitude is the fact that he always does things by accident, ie. summoning his Keyblade by accident or casting random spells without warning. He's not only a danger to his pals, but he's like some random time bomb to his enemies. We don't know what he's gonna do next.

**::ABILITIES:: **(appears in form of Command Cards)

**Shoot **– Thunder can use his Keyblade as a gun, shooting his target. A basic attack from a distance apart from Keyblade-swinging.**  
Thunder **- Thunder casts a regular Thunder Spell from his Keyblade. **  
Thundara – **Thunder casts twice the power of a Thunder Spell from his Keyblade.  
**Thundaga – **Thunder casts thrice the power of a Thunder Spell from his Keyblade.  
**Stop – **Thunder can casts a Stop Spell from his Keyblade.  
**Stun Edge** – Thunder leaps and swing his Keyblade at his enemies in a hurtful strike.  
**Thunder Surge** – Thunder charges at his enemies, completely surrounded in lightning strikes.  
**Binding Strike –** Thunder swings his Keyblade horizontally, binding his enemies into a frozen state.**  
****Starstruck – **Similar to Terra's Zantetsuken ability, Thunder raises his Keyblade, makes a stance, and rips at the enemy in a flash. Causes Confusion.**  
Skid** - Thunder, like Wisdom Form Sora, can skid around. Can avoid attack easily (similar to Reaction ability's Reversal)  
**Reflect **– Thunder can reflects any attacks.  
**Blast**- Thunder does a Palm Thrust unleashing a blue blast from it. Works only when he uses his Reflect attack. Anyone in contact would be propelled to the ground with lots of damage.

**::STYLE MODES::  
_Thunder Jet _**– Thunder's unique Style Mode. He transforms his Keyblade into a Motorbike and while riding it unleashes powerful sparks of electro-shocking Thunder blasts. Similar to FFXIII's Snow's Shiva Driving Mode (Skid ability required)**_  
Thunder Bolt _**- Johnny is known as Thunder because of his high-skill of Thunder based attacks. He uses regular attacks while using Thunder Magic at the same time, like Terra. (Thunder ability required)  
**_Blade Charge _**– Thunder transforms his Keyblade into a massive blade emitted with a blinding light. One of the ultimate Style Mode attack available to all Keybearers. While attacking, he delivers devastating Thunder attacks. (Starstruck + Thundara required)

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Lightning Ray **- Johnny strikes all of his targeted enemies at fast lightning speed.

**::FINISH MODE::  
Brave Beam: **Johnny separates his Keyblade into two and uses them to shoot his enemies mercilessly. He then combines them again into one Keyblade which then transforms into a massive cannon which shot out a golden-colored beam, eradicating his enemies.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)  
-**Thunderlight: **Summons **Thunder (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Fantasmic Charm: **Summons **Magic** **Mickey** **Mouse** from _Disney's Fantasia_.

**_::Keybearer II :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**_Talen Brightfire/Blazen  
_**_Created by=Mace the Manakete_

-A cocky hotheaded heartthrob whose KH character is a Fire-based Keyblade Master known as Blazen. He's African-American. He wears a white long-sleeved shirt underneath a dark-red graffiti shirt, white jeans and red sneakers. He sometimes wears stylish sunglasses, but when he's not, has revealing sneaky eyes. On occasion, he wears his NY hip-hop cap

As Blazen, his hair looks buzzcut, wears floating visors (similar to Johnny's sunglasses on occasion), also a blue shirt underneath an orange gold pulled back long-sleeved vest, gold baggie short, black boots and tricked-out gauntlets. Similar to Master Form Sora but costume is orange gold.

**::ABILITIES:: **(appears in form of Command Style abilities)  
**Fire  
Fira  
Brave Heat** - Same effect as First Aid. Heals a small amount of HP.

**::STYLE MODES::  
_Fire Blazer Mode_** - Attack based on Fire Element. (Fire required)  
**_Sun Flier Mode _**- Similar to Thunder, Blazen transforms his Keyblade into a flying airship, and goes places with it. Attacks with lasers but can't attack with Keyblade. (Fira required)

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Supernova **- Blazen covered in flames, flies in the air before targeting his enemies, then shoots out multiple of flames at targeted enemies.

**::FINISH MODE::  
Eruption: **Blazen enflames his body again, does his supernova attack first, before diving himself to the ground, causing the ground to overheat before shooting out a lava wave, nailing enemies.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH Character and a Disney character)  
-**Blazelight: **Summons **Blazen (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Hot Charm: **Summons **Mushu **from _Disney's Mulan_.

**_::Keybearer III :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**_Sierra Stellaserah/Ciel  
_**_Created by=Mace the Manakete_

-The girlfriend of Pierre who is sometimes sweet, sometimes snobbish. She and Pierre are a team. Her KH character Ciel is a water/wind type Keybearer. She loves Pierre so much, she's willing to take sacrifices for him. She has large perky eyes, and she's blonde with highlights. White shirt, mini shorts, and boots matching the color of her shirt. Mostly has a snow white sweater attached around her neck, to make it look like a cape.

Her KH character Ciel wears an ivory armor with blue highlights on it, a translucent cape, skinny pants and boots of the same color. Sierra is Caucasian.

**::ABILITIES:: **(appears in form of Command Style abilities)  
**Water - **she shoots water from her Keyblade.  
**Waterbug -** an ability that enables her to walk on water.  
**Reflect -** Sea can reflect any attacks.  
**Cura **- An ability that heals a person greatly.

**::STYLE MODES::  
_Water Drop Mode _**- Attack based on Water Element. She can usually cause wave crash. (Water required)

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Chilly Stab **- Targets enemies first before summoning an harp shaped from water and uses it as an bow with lots of ice picks as arrows. Shoots enemies on contact.

**::FINISH MODE::  
Blizzard: **Shoots up a freezing icestorm at enemies. May freeze.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH Character and a Disney character)  
-**Aqualight: **Summons **Ciel (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Popstar Charm: **Summons** Hannah Montana **from _Hannah Montana_.

**_::Keybearer IV :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**_Pierre Brock/ Stone  
_**_Created by=Mace the Manakete_

-The boyfriend of Sierra. He and Sierra are a team. His KH character Stone is a Rock/Earth type Keyblade Master. Cool calm and collected. He loves Sierra so much, he's willing to take sacrifices for her. He wears a casual sea-green T-shirt, jeans, and matching shoes. Green eyes and sandy blond hair with sideburns. He's Caucasian.

**::ABILITIES:: **(appears in form of Command Style abilities)  
**Quake **- Stone does this spell by jumping high in the air with his Keyblade and descends hard to the ground, causing a tremor that smashes a range of enemies. (Mastered)  
**Magnet** - Attracts enemies by casting a strange orb.  
**Reflect **- Stone can reflects any attacks.  
**Zero Gravira **- Makes enemies float helplessly in the air. Like Ven's attack.

**::STYLE MODES::_  
Tremor Mode_**- Attack based on Rock Element. When walking or running, causes earth shakes that immobilizes enemies. (Quake required)

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Sandstorm **- Causes a sandstorm that temporarily blind enemies.

**::FINISH MODE::  
Rock Breaker Mode **- Unleashed powerful rock attacks from under the ground.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Rocklight: **Summons **Stone (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Gourmet Charm: **Summons **Remi **from _Ratatouille_.

**_::Keybearer V :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**_Taylor Mora/Soledad  
_**_Created by=Maiden Masquerade_

-Taylor is a clever flirt whose KH character is a Fire-based Keybearer known as Soledad. She's caucasian. She has black hair which is always tied in a low ponytail and ice-blue eyes. She wears a white sweatshirt that says 'live for rock' navy jeans, red converses and gloves that are black and white.

Taylor has a fear of oceans as she had a traumatic incident in almost drowning in the ocean when she was little. And so as Soledad she is affected by this in a way that when she's battling any water-based enemy, she takes more damage than an average battle between the Keybearer and the enemies. So like Water is Fire's weakest link, so is Taylor/Soledad's.

As Soledad, she wears a red and black shirt, a black sweatshirt, jeans and black sneakers. Soledad uses Taylor's flirting personality it as an advantage to snatch anything useful, she's quick to solve riddles and puzzles. Sole's is a semi-social person and doesn't trust people easily.

**::ABILITIES:: **(appears in form of Command Style abilities)  
**Fire  
Reflect **- able to reflect an enemy's attack  
**Strong Blaze **- heals variously from a small to a medium amount of HP

**::STYLE MODES::  
_Blaze Flame Mode _**- Attack based on Fire Element, like Terra

**::FOCUS MODE::  
SunRise **- Soledad flies in the air with her Keyblade on fire and targets multiple enemies, she then sends a wave of fire towards them.

**::FINISH MODE::  
Hurricane **- Soledad surrounds her enemies with fire and then cause it to rise and engulf the enemy.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Emberlight: **Summons **Soledad (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Lion's Charm: **Summons **Nala **from _Disney's The Lion King_.

**_::Keybearer VI :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**Violet Kitari/Flora  
**_Created by=Rhodes's_

-Violet is a down-to-earth gal with a strong independent personality. Her KH character is a Nature-based Keyblade Master called Flora and she's Asian. She wears a violet school girl uniform with a skirt that reaches near her knees. Her hair is violet.

As Flora, she wears a violet-colored samurai dress with extremely long sleeved white top pulled back to her wrists, and wooden shoes. Her hair color is Keyblade has a similar shape than Ven's Keyblade, except its blade is longer and more trenchant, it looks like a Katana.

**::ABILITIES:: **(appears in form of Command Style abilities)  
**Aero  
Sleep **- able to put an enemy to sleep  
**Poison** - leeches enemies' HP by casting a strange pore on them.  
**Oil **- uses Keyblade as a pen to draw oil everywhere on the ground. Whoever gets opposed to that and fire could be inflicted massive damages. Sometimes attack to cover enemies in oil.  
**Keyhole Warp **– Uses Keyblade Portal to move from one place to another in the same environment. Kinda like Teleport.

**::STYLE MODES::  
_Dancing Breeze Mode _**- Similar to Ven's Speed Rave, Attack based on Wind Element.

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Flashin Dash**- Similar to Ven' Focus Mode.

**::FINISH MODE::  
High Tornade **- Flora points her Keyblade to the sky causing the clouds to split to reveal a heart-shaped moon. The moon then unleashed a tornado of pink petals. This may sound like a stupid Finish Mode attack but get this: the tornado causes enemies to vanish in dusts.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Lushlight: **Summons **Flora (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Secret Charm: **Summons **Kim Possible **from _Disney's Kim Possible_.

**_::Keybearer VII :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**Axel Joedo/Sharx**  
_Created by=Vastler75_

Axel is a 17-year old carefree guy, also a joker, but kind-hearted, he will reference other games when he talk & his fast at putting 2 and 2 together. He is VERY optimistic, rarely frown, and he really hates people who thinks they're better than anyone. He often breaks the fourth wall unlike the other Keybearers. He wears a black T-shirt with the logo of Dissidia Final Fantasy, dark blue long Cargo pants, and Nike Shoes. Axel used to be a delinquent 15-year old who liked to fight... but he then stop after losing to someone who fight to protect instead of fighting to hurt, which he now follows. He also trains in Wrestling at the Local Gym so he can improve his fighting skill.

His KH character wears the same thing, except he wears a Dark blue Org XI Robe underneath, a black T-shirt which doesn't have the Dissidia logo, dark blue long Cargo pants, and Nike Shoes.

The Org XI robe was actually earned in the game upon achieving a legendary status. This one-of-a-kind special item was earned after he single-handedly beat a seemingly-unbeatable special event monster no one in that world was able to beat for they feared it. The monster he defeated is soon to be revealed.

Whenever Axel transforms to Sharx he'll always says "HENSHIN!" & if anybody ask he'll reply that he is a fan of the Kamen Rider series especially Kuuga, Decade, & Black.  
he also has a Catch Phrase which is "[Insert name of Anime/V-game series here] Rulez!"(yes with a Z) every time he beats a powerful enemy.

When confronting a boss in a 1-on-1 boss fight, Sharx's gauntlet gets programmed to play FFX's Otherworld during the battle, and Dissidia's Victory Fanfare - Chaos's Version - when he wins the battle.

Sharx is an All-out attack character with, & Ultra-high Durability.

**::ABILITIES::** (appears in form of Command Style abilities)  
**Regen -** that heal 15% HP/sec (30% if max level & will become Passive)  
**Super Armor -** will never flinch if attack (if max level will become Passive)  
**Chain Lightning  
Never Give up - **Retain 1 HP after suffering a Critical or a one-hit-KO attack (if max level will become Passive)  
**Gunshot -** he shoots 8x with his Dessert Eagle

**::STYLE MODES::  
Stealth Mode **- he becomes Invisible and can attack enemy without revealing himself (Super Armor required)  
**Copter Mode **- his keyblade transform into an attack-helicopter, can attack with it's Gatling Gun & can barrage Missiles (Gunshot required)

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Gun time** - he switch his Keyblade with a Dessert Eagle & a .44 Magnum with Bottomless Magazines, His shot will never miss

**::FINISH MODE::  
Shadow of Dusk -** his Keyblade will give a grayish aura. in this mode he will be under the Hastega spell, all of his attack will always be critical & have high changes of a one-hit-KO attack

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Rushlight: **Summons **Sharx (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Stone-Wing Charm: **Summons **Goliath** from _Disney's Gargoyles_.

**_::Keybearer VIII :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**Matt Salazar/Cross  
**_Created by=Maiden Masquerade_

-Matt is Taylor's awesome boyfriend whose KH character is a Fire/Wind-based Keybearer called Cross. He's caucasian. He has dark brown hair (which is like Riku's Hair length in KH2) and emerald eyes. He wears a black shirt and navy pants which are long and baggy. He also has a wristband that says 'Kuran' on it, and has several piercings on his right ear. He does what he thinks is better for the others and Taylor. Over-protective at some cases.

As Cross, He has a long sleeved white/black shirt and black pants. Cross has a black sweatshirt that says 'Nine Orchids' on the back of it. (english translation of Kuran)Thinks about others before self and usually partners up with Taylor/Soledad.

Matt/Cross used to be neutral and did random assignments for the Blackheart before realizing their motives. He also met Aros before he went onto the side that Taylor was on. He hides this from the others because he's afraid of their reaction and doesn't want to remember what he did.

**::ABILITIES:: **(appears in form of Command Style abilities)  
**Fire**  
**Reflect **- able to reflect an enemy's attack  
**Gust**- his keyblade send a small burst of air which sends the enemy flying  
**Strong Blaze **- heals variously from a small to a medium amount of HP

**::STYLE MODES::**  
**Tornado Fury**- Attack based on Wind Element.  
**Motor Mode - **His Keyblade can transform into a motorcycle. Unlike Rian's Motor Mode, he's able to take another person with him, and uses the Keyblade with one hand in the process. How he managed to find a way to drive and battle, we'll never know.

**::FOCUS MODE::**  
**Phoenix's Breeze**- Matt creates a Phoenix out of fire and uses a gust spell to send it flying, burning enemies both in the sky and land.

**::FINISH MODE::**  
**Whirlwind **- Uses wind to lift the enemy into the air and shoot several flames at them. The air causes the fire to grow bigger and burn the enemy.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Arclight: **Summons **Cross (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Dark Roar Charm: **Summons **Kovuu **from _Disney's The Lion King_.

**_::Keybearer IX :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**Kami Tsubasa/ Naraku "Death Scythe" Shinigami**  
_Created by=Echo the Ethereal Master_

In reality, Kami was a shy, lonely girl that had a hard time to make friends. In the videogame, Death Scythe was a cold-hearted skillful player that always distances herself from others that want to be friends with her. Kami was a fan of anime and videogames, but quits school because everyone made fun of her. It appears that she was suppose to be a sophomore in Rian's school, but since she had a hard time in her freshman year, she stops coming to school and lock herself away. She is a bit of a hikkikomori (one who isolate oneself from reality) now, that she never comes out of her room ever since her tough times at school, her parents were now divorced (Kami now live with her mom, and her brother, Tenshu, live with her dad), and also her older brother is now in the hospital, who falls into a coma from the "accident" while playing KH3OHD.

Her brother, Tenshu Tsubasa/ Kage "Ruin" Rei, was the top high level player of KH3OHD. Death Scythe and her brother, Ruin, always contact with each other in the KH3OHD game, and she used to be talkative, energetic, and free-spirited in the game. Until, she heard the news that there was an "accident" that her brother fell into a coma while playing. No one knows how. Rumors spread that he's been PKed (player killed, which is an illegal/forbidden action in KH3OHD.) by an unknown character (you can pick or create who). Now Death Scythe became a cold, serious, antisocial player who wants her revenge for her brother, she earn her job as PKKer (Player Killer Killer, which a special job she earned in her rare sidequest.) and her job is to exterminate Pkers (that she will "banned"/"delete"/"log out the player" by exterminating PKers with causing the player to sent into a coma), and hoping to track the one that was responsible for the happenings of her brother. Some players and NPC's believe she's Death herself.

In reality, Kami (somewhere 15-17) used to wore her blue sailor fuku uniform,  
but now she wore a plain white t-shirt, blue shorts and white knee-length  
socks since she quit school and barely came out of her room. And she has long  
brown hair tied in a ponytail, and brown eyes.

Death-Scythe KH character clothes are very similar to Maka from Soul Eater, with the black buttoned trench coat, black shoes with white straps, and white gloves. But under her trench coat were short dark blue jean shorts, and a black shirt with a white "soul logo" from the anime Soul Eater. She has shoulder length snow white hair and crimson red eyes, and her appearance made her look like she's in her teens (15-16). She wield a keyblade, God of Death, which can turn into a death scythe or kusarigama (chain sickles (similar what Tsubaki transform in Soul Eater)). But, she like her keyblade in her Scythe form (her scythe is very similar from the one in FFAgito13.), and she always keep the keyblade in her death scythe form.

Whenever Kami/Death-Scythe defeats or PK a PKer, she'll email the "Security" (internet security group or whoever they were called from the real world) about the data/info/location of the PKer she found and defeated, so they can track down the Player behind the PKer character and arrest the player for their crime.

Hint:  
Her favorite characters are Arumat (Star Ocean); Maka, Soul, Stein, Spirit, and Shinigami (Soul Eater), Marluxia (Kingdom Hearts), Haseo (.Hack GU), and other characters that wield scythe. Kami doesn't know this, but Axel has a crush on her despite her Keybearer's multiple personalities.

It is also revealed that **Death Scythe has some** **split personalities** in battle:  
-**Normal**: Death Scythe in her normal, quiet, serious state.

The three Personalities **Berserk/Lunatic/Psycho **can be activated only if Death-Scythe gets into a drastic and difficult battle.  
-**Berserk**: Death Scythe goes in to complete rage and will destroy any in her path.  
-**Lunatic**: similar to what Maka acts when influence with black blood in Soul Eater, Death Scythe goes all crazy/silly with swaying, giggling constantly at the opponent/enemy, joking/mocking the opponent/enemy, and sometimes attempt to "devour" opponent's head for "fun"/"no reason".  
-**Psycho**: similar when Shion/Mion or Rena goes crazy in Higurashi. Death Scythe will go all psychotic/manically/bloodthirsty, thrill to kill/destroy. Even laughs/cackles psychotic/manically like Shion/Mion or Rena. Sometimes like to torture the enemy or opponent.

**::ABILITIES::** (appears in form of Command Style abilities)**  
Meteor**: Can use Meteor Magic  
**Void**: spell that traps the enemy in a void, the within an unknown power strikes the enemy.  
**Death**: a spell that summons a Grim Reaper and it will use a powerful blow that can cause instant death on enemy/strikes the HP to Zero, even on those who have over 9 HP.  
**Poison**: a spell that can affect the enemy with poison  
**Silence**: a spell that can silence the enemy from using magic  
**Blood Sucker**: an ability to suck HP from enemy in order to gain HP for herself  
**Soul Eater**: an ability to suck MP from enemy in order to gain MP for herself  
**Reaper**: in scythe form, vanquish the enemy with one strike  
**Sickle**: in kusarigama (chain sickles) form, throws one of sickle and strike the enemy

**::STYLE MODES::  
Heartless Hunter:** (similar to Maka's Witch Hunt) Her keyblade in scythe form, with its head blade turns into a cresent moon shape. Heartless Hunter is used to send a single or multiple wave(s) attack towards the enemy. (earn that ability for completing the "Eliminate over 9 thousand Heartless" Quest)  
**Nobody Hunter:** (similar to Maka's Majin/Demon Hunt) Her keyblade in scythe form, with its head blade turns into a giant axe-like weapon with a long, vertical fang at the front. Nobody Hunter has thet powerful ability to slice the enemy. (Earn that ability for completing the "Eliminate over 9 thousand Nobodies" Quest)  
**Unversed Hunter:** (similar to Maka's Kishin Hunt) Her keyblade in scythe form, with its head blade turns into a much larger rainbow-colored ghostly blade. Unversed Hunter is the most rarest and the most powerful ability ever known, that will eliminate any enemies with its devastating attack. (Earn that ability for completing the rare "Hunt down the stray Unversed" Quest)

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Soul Reaper**: using the death scythe, strikes the enemy up to the sky, leaps upward the enemy, slash two times and perform a final blow that strike the enemy to the ground, creating a lot of damage on the enemy.

**::FINISH MODE::  
Tri-Edge**: death scythe transform to 3 bladed laser scythes (very similar to Arumat's laser scythe from Star Ocean: the Last Hope). Slash the enemy 2 times, and use immense energy on the scythe to create the final/third strike, causing fatal damage on the enemy.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Deathlight: **Summons **Naraku (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Nocturnal Demon Charm**: Summons **Chernabog **from _Disney's_ _Fantasia_.

**_::Keybearer X :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**Tenshu Tsubasa/ Kage "Ruin" Rei_  
_**_Created by=Echo the Ethereal Master_

Before the incident, their parents went to divorce and he has to live with his dad. Tenshu and Kami always contact each other in KH3OHD, working together as a team as Ruin and Death Scythe. He cares alot about Kami/Death Scythe, despite how far they live. He can be a bookworm a bit, loves to read novels involve with fantasy or scifi, and also loves RPG. He also wish that thier parents were back together so the four can be a family again.

In reality, Tenshu (somewhere 17-19) sometime wore his school uniform: blue  
pants, white buttoned shirt with a black sweater vest, and white sneakers with  
blue linings. And he has short brown hair and brown eyes.

Tenshu's KH character, Ruin, is somewhat 17-20, wears pair of crescent-shaped specs a black trench coat with white fur trim on coat's collar and underneath is a black suit with a black tie. He has short violet hair and yellow eyes behind the specs(like Yuuki Nagato from Genderswaped version of Haruhi/Haruki Suzumiya).

His Keyblade, Grimoire, can turn into a spell book.

These are some known abilities that Ruin used before the incident:

**::ABILITIES::  
Black Magic**: keyblade in spellbook form, can cast any black magic.**  
White Magic**: keyblade in spellbook form, can cast any white magic.  
**Time Magic**: keyblade in spellbook form, can cast any time magic.  
**Blue Magic**: keyblade in spellbook form, can cast any blue magic.**  
Summon Magic**: keyblade in spellbook form, can summon any summoned creature.

**::STYLE MODES::  
Black Mage**: turn into black mage and cast any powerful black magic (black magic required).**  
White Mage**: turn into white mage and cast any powerful white magic to help ally (white magic required).**  
Summoner**: turn into summoner and cast any powerful beast (summon magic required).**  
Time Mage**: turn into time mage and cast any powerful time magic (time magic required).**  
Blue Mage**: turn into blue mage and cast any powerful blue magic (blue magic required).

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Red Magic**: cast either black or white magic.

**::FINISH MODE::  
Magic Burst**: (similar to what Shantotto use in EX Mode) Cast ultimate magic one at each time: Flare, Flood, Burst, Quake, Tornado, and Freeze.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Magiclight: **Summons **Kage (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Great Lion Charm**: Summons **Aslan **from _The Chronicles of Narnia_.

**_::Keybearer XI :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**Jean-Michel Elincio/Arctic**_  
Created by=Mace the Manakete_

An African-French who happens to be an international sensation. Carries a too-cool, high and mighty personality, similar to Talen. He has a love for ice cocktails and likes to be stylish. Wears a black suede jacket underneath a red shirt, and black pants and dress shoes. Wears a diamond earring on his left ear.

Jean-Michel is a celebrity in many ways: he's an actor, a hip-hop artist, a race-car champion, and a martial artist also. He's very popular in Midlight City and he's the cousin of Talen Brightfire, which is why Talen acts all cocky, because he has a family full of celebrities. He owns a massive Beverly Hills-like mansion in Midlight City, and in Radiant Kingdom. He also owns a sports-car which he can convert from his Keyblade. How did he get the Radiant Kingdom mansion and the car? He earned them as a reward from completing the sidequest: Auction till you Drop, in which he had to auction on the hottest prizes and treasures like such in the KH3OHD community.

When he's not enjoying the Hollywood BCBG life, he sits back to enjoy KH3OHD. In the game as Arctic, he's known as the richest KH player because he save lots of munnies and he's always careful with his savings. Think of him as Uncle Scrooge.

His KH character Arctic wears a long-sleeve dress shirt, pants, and shoes, all of ivory color and sports D&G sunglasses. Carries his Keyblade by his back, like Ven. But because he's a martial artist, he rarely fights with his Keyblade. He only uses it to perform his Modes and to cast Arcwind.

**::ABILITIES::** (appears in form of Command Style abilities)**  
Blizzard  
Blizzara  
Arcwind** - Raises Keyblade up, unleashing an icy glow, then descends it to unleash a crescent-shaped projectile. May freeze.

**::STYLE MODES::_  
Skater Mode _**- He makes attacks based on Ice Element, while creating patches of ice whenever he moves about, and skids on water too. Arcwind required.  
**_Diamond Dust Mode _**- He makes attacks based on Ice Element. Instead of skating and creating patches of ice, he floats around. Like Aqua.

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Klinch!**- Like the title says, casts a freezing spell on targeted enemies. Arctic closed his two fingers together, targets his enemies first with his eyes closed, then with just one stroke of his fingers, the enemies are encased on ice in a blink of an eye.

**::FINISH MODE::  
Harsh Cold **- He first cast a cold wind, giving chills to the enemies. Then the cold wind gradually strengthens to be a powerful gust of cold wind, then the entire screen turns white, then a blast detonates unleashing a severe powerful ice storm, strong enough to kill anything.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Freezelight: **Summons **Arctic (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Speedy Charm: **Summons **Lightning McQueen** from _Cars_.

**_::Keybearer XII :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**Denzel/Aegis**_  
Created by=Mr. Wryte_

Denzel is the regular reckless, jump the gun kid who is sweet in his own way and possesses a strong determination that never allows him to give up anything.

As Denzel he wears a white shirt with the FF8 logo and black pants. He has short brown hair and grey eyes.

As his KH character, Aegis, he wields a Keyblade that resembles Riku's Keyblade from KH2 without the wing tip which he calls Garn. He wears a white vest and black shirt and the rest of his wardrobe is similar to final form. Aegis has spiky white hair and blue eyes.

**::ABILITIES::** (appears in form of Command Style abilities)**  
Firescatter** – Aegis shoots out a burst of flame from his hands like a shotgun.**  
Holy Water** – Shoots out a gush of water that is imbued with the Holy Spell.**  
Reserve** – Allows Aegis to heal himself whenever he is badly hurt so he can continue to fight and unlock his True Potential.  
**Dragon Grace** - Aegis slashes into the air with a energy dragon following behind.  
**Gun Blast** - Aegis stabs his Garn Keyblade into the ground, releasing a wave of fire.

**::STYLE MODES::  
_True Potential Mode _**– Gives Aegis an amazing burst of strength. (Reserve Required)  
**_Heartless Mode - _**Give Aegis the ability to switch between normal self and heartless self at the cost of using his Keyblade in that form. (earn that ability for completing the "Slay your Heartless" Quest)

**::FOCUS MODE::  
Fire's Baptism **– Aegis' super move. He points Garn to the sky and fire rains down from above, or can spray it from the Keyblade as well.

**::FINISH MODE::  
_Bahamut Driver Mode _**–Aegis summons Bahamut and can turn him into a black and blue motorcycle. While on the motorcycle he can transform Garn into a revolver called Crimson Coffin or turn him into wings for flight, shoots six rounds from his revolver at his enemies then revs up the motorcycle to speed past his enemies leaving a trail of thunder to follow him as a finish. Bahamut becomes Bahamut Sin when Aegis is in Heartless Mode.

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Gracelight: **Summons **Aegis (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Infinity Charm: **Summons **Buzz** **Lightyear** from _Disney's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_.

**_::Keybearer XIII :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_**

**Trayne/Tandem  
**_Created by=Zapsta3000_

Clever, Funny, and not afraid to break the rules, Trayne is the kind of guy anyone can get along with. Because of this, Tranye naturally thinks he is "un-hatable" by anyone, and is overly cocky at times. All aside, he is good at heart and knows how to get serious should the situation demand it. His KH character is wind/ice type Keybearer.  
He's African-American with dark blue eyes, black hair and a long ponytail with red highlights. He wears a black shirt with Pac Man on it and a black leather jacket with a red tint to it. He wears black ripped jeans and black and red Nikes.  
His KH character, Tandem, has the same hair, only the color is white, and the highlights are light blue. His shirt is light blue at the bottom and transitions to white, and his jacket white, tinted light blue. His jeans aren't ripped, and are crisp with a light blue line going down them. Shoes are white.

**::ABILITIES:: **(appears in form of Command Style abilities)  
**Dash- **Tandem speeds through the enemy, spinning them around  
**Blizzard**  
**Impact**- Tandem throws a shard of ice and speeds it up with the wind  
**Cure**

**::STYLE MODES::**  
**_Doppleganger Mode_**: Allows Tandem to make a look-alike of himself, confusing the enemy and allowing him to double up on attacks  
**_Rotor Mode_**- Tandems Keyblade turns into a metallic rotor that he propels with his wind magic  
**  
::FOCUS MODE::**  
**Sora's Playtime**- (Note: Sora in Japanese means air) Tandem lifts enemies up in the air, then, upon making doppelgangers of himself, attacks them from every side  
**  
::FINISH MODE::**  
**Shatter**- Tandem freezes all enemys, then throws his Keyblade in rotor mode, breaking all enemies it smashes

**::D-Link Summons:: **(Summons must be the KH character and a Disney character)**  
**-**Flashlight: **Summons **Tandem (Keyblade Knight Mode)  
-Feral Charm: **Summons **Bolt **from _Disney's Bolt_.

**_::The Blackhearts Dominion::_**

The Blackhearts Dominion; a group of 12 dark entities forged from the Hearts of Pure Bravery of 12 talented Keybearers who failed on their mission in the Online HD World, but were known for their greatness in their previous quests. They are Keybearers of darkness and are successors of Organization XIII with spine-chilling powers to control any and all Keyblades, even their opponents'. Their thirst for complete darkness and hate for complete light puts them in charge of the Online HD game and sets them up as the main villains of the story.

The sole mission of these 12 dark-hearted Keybearers is to collect as many hearts of Pure Bravery as they can. On occasion, they will try to collect hearts of Pure Light as well. Which means that they will be hunting after the Princesses of Hearts. By collecting enough hearts, they will have the power to bring their dark father, Master Xehanort, back to life and bring the Day of Reckoning to the world of Kingdom Hearts and the real world, in which they will have absolute power and control over. The Blackhearts Dominion is also responsible for the loss of Donald and Goofy's dearest friend, Sora; but how they lost Sora, no one knows.

The Blackheart Dominion also appears in _Kingdom Lights_, a fanfic co-written by me and Rhodes's, available at my deviantart page.

**Maurchel, _The Superior _**(Dark): The leader of the group, set to do anything to please his goals and needs.

**Samshall, _The Punisher_** (Thunder): A persuasive threat whose skillful creativity and ruthlessness makes him second leader.

**Firias, _The Anger_** (Fire): The opposite of cool, calm and collected, who gets mad at practically anything.

**Denzol, _The Demeanor _**(Earth): An earth controller who carries multiple personalities.

**Sage, _The Calm_ **(Water): A female blackheart who appears calm and serene, but is quite the savage. She wears thin glasses.

**Percicle, _The Champion _**(Ice): A foul-behaved figure who is very deceptive.

**Phantamis, _The Illusion _**(Wind): A figure who appears charming to many, but is very devious.

**Tidicus, _The Charming _**(Love): A self-obsessed narcissist who's always fashionably stylish. He and Ivy are tight.

**Ivy, _The Poison_** (Nature): A lovely sexy figure with a british accent. She and Tidicus are tight.

**Aros, _The Mysterious_ **(Twilight): Mysterious indeed, and very quiet, he bears the resemblance of Sora. Could Sora's heart may have been corrupted into this figure?

**Alistare, _The Mastermind _**(Death): A middle aged ruthless figure who's heart is as cold as his comrades. Could be the real chief.

**Nix **(Fear)**:** A skinny blackheart whose thwarted heart was formed into a failure, resulting in many deformed appearances. In **Assassin Mode, **he appears as a faceless ninja with piranha teeth. But in **Creepy Mode, **(also known as Nix vers.2)he appears in a shape like the skinniest human being on Earth, Pale skinned and looked like his skin got ripped all over by bloodhound jaws, leaving open wounds and scars, like a self-eating, flesh-eating zombie. It crawls in four legs (upside-down or not), missing an eye (there was a skeleton eyehole instead), and its lips were knitted shut to look like zippers, like nobodies. His height was about seven feet and it drools with saliva.

He's more talented at taking out hearts with its multiple double-edged knives in Assassin Mode. In Creepy Mode, he just shatters the hearts.

**_:::The Mortals:::_**

This is the list of Mortals OCs that will appear in the fanfic. Each of these characters will share a relationship with our main heroes and villains. Here's a few to give you a heads' up:

**Milene Vitali::  
**A snobbish cheerleader, highly popular at Midlight City High School. She treats her school as her kingdom and is easily frightened. She used to date **Talen, Matt, **and** Pierre, **giving her a new record for dating the most number of popular guys**. **She claims to be **Sierra's **BFF, but she is actually her rival and is not afraid of showing it. She's now chasing after **Rian**.

Milene first appeared in the first episode, (remember the girl practicing her drama scream? That was her.)

**The US Secret Service (Hawk, Eagle, Bird)::  
**There's Bird, the youngest agent intern, Eagle the graceful agent second in command, and Hawk the leader. All three agents work for the US Secret Service, an organization who'll suddenly get involved in **The Thirteen Keybearers' **lives, as they try to expose their secret and do unspeakable things to them. The three agents, besides their array of spy troops who will watch our heroes' every move will have huge roles in the fanfic, as they have no idea that the country and their President they think they are fighting for, are actually under control of the **Blackheart Dominion, **who not surprisingly, will take over the Secret Service.

The Secret Service's Trio's first appearance will be TBA

**Principal Lawrence Winchester (aka Principal Law)::  
**The principal of Midlight City High School. He knows **Rian** very well (as being the most unstable irresponsible troublemaking bad boy on campus of course).

Principal Law first appeared in the first episode.

**Skyler Vitani::  
**_Created by = Maiden Masquerade_

**Matt**'s rival and **Taylor**'s fan. Skyler's relationship with Taylor is similar to Gaston and Belle's in _Beauty and the Beast_. He loves her and she doesn't. Unfortunately for him, Matt is always nearby and keeps him at bay. Skyler and Matt go back several years when they were friends and neither of them had met Taylor.

Skyler's first appearance is on the eleventh episode.

**Trishelle Banks**::  
_Created by = Mace the Manakete_

-High school's most reliable gossip girl. A ravishing African-American who gets all the dish on the what's what, who's who, and everything un-missable about Midlight City High School: the Hollywood of Teenagers, she calls it. She's the one who got all the dish on **Kami** and her history of her change in personality to the school. She's also the one who got **Jean-Michel** to be part of the upcoming Homecoming. She has a thing for **Axel**, but wonders if he has a thing for her too.

**Rika Tsubasa::  
**_Created by = Echo the Ethereal Swordmaster_

Mother of **Kami** and **Tenshu**, and Wife of Noah. Short brown hair tied in a bun, brown eyes. Sometimes wear her standard women's business suit. She was a busy business woman. Rika cares a lot about her children and her husband before the divorce. She and Noah had a hard time because of their busy jobs and hardly had time with their kids, till they have no choice but to file a divorce, hoping to make it easier, till they're wrong. Rika believe that Tenshu suffer a seizure or poison. She sometimes blames herself for the divorce that causes Tenshu's accident and Kami's distance from people, including her parents. Rika always tried to get Kami to get out of her room/isolation and tried to help her, but fails. She hardly comes home due to her business trips and she was thinking about quitting her job and whether she and Noah should cancel the divorce or not, hoping everything will work out and be a family again.

**Noah Tsubasa:**:  
_Created by = Echo the Ethereal Swordmaster_

Father of **Kami** and **Tenshu**, and Husband of Rika. Short messy brown hairs and brown eyes, Wears his police uniform, since he's a police officer. He and all his kids and his wife were happy together, till their some difficulties they start to face. With no choice, they were divorce, which is their mistake. With Tenshu in the hospital and Kami no longer talking to them, things went more complicated. He first thought that Tenshu suffer from poison or seizure, until he starts to realize that it has something to due with the games. And that Noah heard news that there are some criminals playing KH3OHD as PKers, he decided that he and his friends from the police force form "The Security", internet security to track down criminal players behind PKer and arrest them, and also that they are not Players of KH3OHD, just the internet security system programmers. But since they are just Security teams, they need a player, and PKKer. And that's when they got an email from Kami/Death-Scythe, that she will join as their PKKer, to avenge her brother. Since Kami didn't know, that her father is the Chief Leader of the Security, goes by the codename "Orchestra". He keeps himself anonymous, since he had a feeling that Kami will never talk to him. Like Rika, he blames himself for the happenings to his children. And he was thinking once it's over, he will resign his job and whether he and Rika should end their divorce or not, hoping everything will work out and be a family again.

**Halee Salazar**::  
_Created by = Maiden Masquerade_

**Matt**'s older sister and teacher in the high school (in her early twenties) She's very suspicious about Matt and the whole gang and has a habit of walking into the Keybearers conversation. Enjoys annoying her brother, **Axel** and **Talen** for some strange reason. Has long brown hair and wears spectacles.

**Selena**::  
_Created by = Mr. Wryte_

A close childhood friend of **Denzel**. He found her on the streets and took her in his home secretly. She slowly fell in love with him over time and she confessed her feelings for him. She waits for his answer while he tries to sort out his own feelings. She has hazel shoulder length hair and amythest eyes wearing a white short sleeved shirt under a black sweater and a black knee-length skirt.

**Duke Seven::  
**_Created by = Bishamonten lord_

A mortal male who serves darkness and **Sage the Calm**, less to the Blackhearts' knowledge. He has no powers but is considered a skilled swordsman. His calm personality during battle confuses his opponents and more so when he laughs when he is hurt. He wears deep blood red armor like a medieval knight that matches his eyes. He has an unknown grudge against **Matt**.

**Dr. Raiga Joedo::  
**_Created by = Vastler75_

**Axel**'s dad… he has black eyes, & has short Black hair, a Docter at Midnight City Hospital...like father like son...he is also free spirited, he's a Big fan of the Super Sentai series since a child...he is half-Indonesian & half-Japanese (hence the Family name)...also a Black-belt at Aikido.

**Melati Joedo::  
**_Created by = Vastler75_

**Axel**'s Mom… an Indonesian women, she has Black eyes & Long Black hair...she has a lovingly personality & a bit clumsy… she's fast at putting 2 and 2 together...she owns a Flower Shop in Midnight City & is a fan of the Haruhi series.

**Alexandra Razalude::**_  
Created by = Maiden Masquerade_

A senior at Midlight City High, a childhood friend of **Taylor**, a piano player who is usually found in the music room playing _Missing You_ from KH2.  
She has long, dark red hair and and brown eyes, **Matt **goes to her when he needs help with his relationship with Taylor, she also is Taylor's confidant.

**::TEAMWORK::**

There is going to be a lot of teamwork in _KH3 Online HD_. And you will be in charge of who you would like to see joining forces together. Here are some of the teams that we'll be forming:

**::Team 1:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

**The Three Supernova::  
**By request of_ Vastler75 _and _Echo the Ethereal Master_, and by my approval,** Rian, Axel, and Kami **will join force.

Due to the fact that they share a history of being the best players in the KHIII Online HD universe, Rian, Axel, and Kami will join force as the story advances, so there's going to be a greater chance of seeing these fearsome trio together on major quests. Of course, that doesn't mean the rest of the cast will be ruled out. No, they're still in the league!

By being the notable Supernova, these Keybearers will too share nicknames:

-Johnny "Thunder" Keyblade as The Roar of the Sky  
-Naraku "Death Scythe" Shinigami as The Deadly Earth  
-Sharx as Beast of the Deep Blue

**::ex-FINISH MODE::**  
**?**- To be determined.

**::Team 2:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

**Wind of the Sun::  
**_Maiden Masquerade_ mentioned in Matt/Cross's info that **Matt and Taylor **will team up.

With Matt's power of Wind and Fire, and Taylor's Fire Power, what other type of Fiery rage will they unleashing in a major cyclone? Together, Soledad and Cross are a force to be reckoned with. Together they are known as Wind of the Sun.

Whenever the two are ready to do a combo together, Cross starts saying "And my demons lay in waiting..." and Soledad adds, saying, "Tempting me away." Its part of a song from Skillet called Comatose.

They have a habit of using parts of songs by Skillet as a code.

-Soledad as Flames of the Sun  
-Cross as Wind of the Storm

**::Team 3:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

**Ciel and Stone::  
**_Mace the Manakete's _main teammate power couple** Sierra and Pierre.**

Imagine combining the power of Water and Earth together? What would the enemy prefer getting a dosage of: earthquake or tsunami? Or both?

Nickname to be determined.

**::Team 4:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

**The Apocalypse::  
**A force to be reckoned with by request of _Echo the Ethereal Master_, and according to **Kami and Tenshu**'s info.

Siblings Kami and Tenshu, as Death Scythe and Ruin used to form teams together called the Apocalypse. Together they could take down anything standing in their way. But that all changed when Tenshu/Ruin fell into the coma, and the Apocalypse was quickly "disbanded", leaving Kami/Death Scythe all alone, until she joined force with the Three Supernova and donned a new nickname.

But will this team be formed again once Tenshu comes to? Stay tight for answers.

These Keybearers were known as:

-Kage "Ruin" Rei as Page of Catastrophe  
-Naraku "Death Scythe" Shinigami as Blade of Cataclysm

**::Team 5:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

**Black Ice: Shattering Impact::  
**_Mr. Wryte and Zapsta 3000's _**Denzel and Trayne's **budding power is deadly**.**

Aegis starts the attack by going into his Heartless Mode then punches the ground black spikes rising to impale enemies and at the same time freezing them. Then Tandem transforms his Keyblade into Rotor Mode and he throws it at them, shattering them.

Nickname to be determined.

* * *

_GET READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE!_

******Next Chapter**:: _A Hero has Risen  
_


	3. Ep1: A Hero has Risen

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

**_-_**_A __Hero has Risen_**_-_**

* * *

_Kingdom Hearts III - Online HD!!_

_Your HD Mission:: Infiltrate the Blackhearts' Dominion's Facility. The New XIII is your enemies. They are a group of perfect nobodies and strange villains grouped together on one dead-set mission to collect hearts. You have 2:00 Time Limit._

_GO!_

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A glass wall on a large glass bridge shattered in million bits, letting in strong winds to blow violently inside. A Keybearer, mounted on a high-speed motor jet made his entrance and with his Keyblade as a gun started firing a rain of energy bullets at a bunch of people who were on the bridge. Gun-wielding soldiers started swarming the bridge to see what was going on to notice the bloodshed happening by the unlikely hero.

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Rian Rivers was glued to his HDTV screen, game controller on hand, and fingers constantly mashing the buttons as he witness the crucial event.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about, baby!" he exclaimed, controlling the mysterious motor-jet riding Keybearer with his controller, "Massive damages! Major killin' !"

His right hand quickly let go of his controller to push a sync button on his headset, then went back to the game.

"Hey yo! Blazen! You there, man?" he called the other KH player on the other line.

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"Right behind ya, Johnny Boy!" a voice caught the mysterious Keybearer's attention. It was that of another Keyblade player's character Blazen, who was hanging on a rope ladder pulled down by his dashing flying airship, the Sun Flier. It was dark-gold and tricked out with black-and-white graffiti.

"It's Thunder." Johnny, or Thunder as he preferred to be called, corrected Blazen.

"Like I care!" Blazen grinned at him before he raised one arm up toward his Sun Flier and the airship morphed back to his Keyblade. He then separates them and posed with one Keyblade behind his back (like Sora's Valor Form).

SECURITY HAS BEEN BREACHED! MOVE! MOVE! MOOOVE!

More gun-wielding soldiers stormed in the glass bridge and the two Keyblade Masters jumped into action, endlessly delivering blows and blitz of their Keyblade attacks on every soldier. Blazen was quick and fast at knee which was hard for the soldiers to retaliate, while Johnny was well-balanced both in attack and defense, making hitting him difficult as he had the tendency to block every attack he received. The battle felt like it went on for hours!

The two heroes saw more soldiers coming toward them from afar.

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"Aw man! More of them?" Rian complained to his other KH partner.

"Hey! No big deal, Johnny Boy! We can clean them up like dusts off floors!" replied the other KH partner through Rian's headset.

Rian grinned. He knew exactly what his partner was thinking, "Ohh! I know what it's time for?" Rian quickly reached another button on his headset and a translucent dark-red frames covered his eyes.

---------------------------------------------

Thunder and Blazen pulled up similar frames also. Thunder's frames was from his dark-red sunglasses while Blazen was hovering right by his face. A target sign was displayed on the screen of their frames, blinking and choosing their approaching enemies.

They pointed their Keyblades in front of them, ready for attack and cried, "FOCUS MODE!!"

Thunder's Keyblade shot his targeted enemies mercilessly with more energy bullets, this time bigger than ever, while Blazen engulfed himself in flames, flew up in the air, and started shooting out multiple flames balls at his targeted enemies also. The enemies quickly got overwhelmed. Thunder and Blazen, who returned to his normal form, high-fived.

"Awesome man! That was tight!" Blazen sounded pumped.

"Yeah! Oh and by the way, it's Thunder." Thunder corrected Blazen again.

"Yeah sure, Johnny Boy!" Blazen laughed and flew ahead of Thunder. Thunder followed. But the duo stopped running when a large behemoth crashed in, blocking their path.

"Ohh man!" Blazen freaked out at the size of that thing.

"Ohh crap!" Thunder stuttered.

The Behemoth opened his jaws and let out a ferocious roar.

Thunder and Blazen looked at each other, fully determined.

"You ready man?" Blazen asked.

"I've been ready since first grade!" Thunder grinned and the two Keybearers charged at the Behemoth, delivering their best blows, but only doing slight damages at the Behemoth. The Behemoth raised his feet up in the air and landed on the ground, causing a massive quake and a crescent beam to escape from its paws midair, nailing the Keyblade heroes full-force on their stomach. They went flying to the ground.

They started getting up and they got surprised at the Behemoth charging toward them and tossed his large horns at them. Thunder's body slammed hard on the ceiling before landing on the ground, and Blazen crashed through a glass window, and more winds started to gush in. Blazen held on to the edge of the glass bridge for dear life.

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"HEY! What the hell?!" Rian jumped off his seat at this sudden turn of events.

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The Behemoth roared wildly again as Thunder slowly and painfully got up on his feet and saw his friend in trouble.

"Blazen!" Thunder exclaimed.

"Yo! Watch out!" Blazen warned.

Thunder saw two paws dropping near his head. He nimbly dodge-rolled it. The Behemoth landed another horn thrust to its right. Thunder struck his back hard on a wall near the glass one. Thunder's vision started blurring.

The behemoth wasn't done. He charged toward Thunder, but Thunder dodge-rolled again. The behemoth didn't stop charging. As it reached the wall, he curved into a large ball and rolled around the bridge in pursuit of Thunder.

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"You gotta be kiddin' me!" Rian got at the edge of his seat and urgently started punching out button combos, sweats started pouring down his forehead, and panic grieved his face.

"Blazen! You better do something here!"

"HELLOOOO! WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M TRYING TO DO HERE?!" called out the player who was controlling Blazen on Rian's headset.

---------------------------------------------

Blazen finally got on his feet, but was standing right at the edge of the bridge. He suddenly watched a fleet of airships flying above Thunder and the Behemoth and shooting massive explosions everywhere.

Thunder with his Keyblade started shooting endlessly at the invincible Behemoth ball that was charging toward him. Before the Behemoth ball got the chance to reach Thunder, a massive explosion pulled them apart. Shards spread out everywhere and Thunder, Blazen, and the Behemoth Ball went flying into the war-infested skies.

"SUN Flier!!" Blazen glowed a ruby colored aura around him and threw his Keyblade up in the air. The Keyblade transformed back into the Sun Flier and the airship zoomed right below the falling Blazen. Blazen landed into the ship right on his pilot seat and piloted the ship toward the falling Thunder. Thunder fell onto a seat right besides Blazen. Thunder looked dazed.

---------------------------------------------

"You're okay man?" the player on Rian's headset asked.

Rian breathed a sigh of relief as he reclined back to his chair, "Now I am." But then he jumped back again, "WHAT THE--?!"

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The Behemoth uncurled from its ball shape and suddenly spread out wings from his back and went in pursuit of the Sun Flier.

"Target identified! Flying Behemoth. Located at 0.1 mile!" the Sun Flier locator sounded.

"The Behemoth flies?" Thunder exclaimed at the sight of the flying creature.

"I can lose it man!" Blazen shifted gear and the Sun Flier started swinging around the skies. The Behemoth followed in the same fashion.

"I can't believe we're gonna fail the mission!" Thunder shouted.

"We can't fail!" Blazen exclaimed, "Our hearts is at stake he--ahh!"

The Sun Flier suddenly shook up violently. Thunder and Blazen's eyes dilated at the sight of one of the Sun Flier's wing being ripped out of its body. They then spotted the Behemoth flying right besides them. The Behemoth rammed onto the ship.

"AAHH!!" they screamed.

BOOM!!

Another explosion happened. An army of airships got spotted behind them, and a multitude of flying heartless was at their tail. They were surrounded.

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"Shoot! They're too many of them!" The player playing Blazen panicked at yet another sudden turn of events. Rian was back at the edge of his seat, drawn into the adrenaline-rushing action.

"We can't lose man! We can't ---AAAAHHH!!!" Rian gasped and the player playing Blazen screamed at the same time they saw their ship exploding. The wounded Thunder and Blazen began falling, prompting the enemies to went all-out assault on them with a barricade of shots, bombarding them at high-speed, their HP depleted to a drop-dead zero.

***

A startled Rian jumped out. He just woke up from a straight-up high-octane dream. Yes. Everything that happened: Thunder and Blazen infiltrating that facility, battling the Behemoth, Rian panicking with his player in crime on the headset as he was controlling the game… it was all a dream.

But what really made him jumped out of his sleep was that he was making his sleepy noises again… in front of his History Class!

The students stifled their laughter when the history professor approached Rian.

"Mr. Rivers. It looks like you have something _interesting _to share to the class." he said with a cagey stare, "Care to talk about it?"

Rian looked around the class. All eyes were on him. Many of these eyes were teasing, like the eyes of someone trying to hold back provocative laughter. Rian turned back to his History professor and grinned, "Before I _do _talk about it sir, how much of that did you hear?"

"Oh, I've heard enough." The history professor smiled back through his thick mustache.

"Then my work here is done."

The class exploded in laughter as the professor's smile vanished from his face. Rian stopped smiling as well, knowing what was coming.

***

"Rian!"

Rian jumped at a girl's sudden voice hiding behind his locker. He closed his locker to see her. She wore a white sweatshirt that said "live for rock", navy jeans, red converses, and gloves that were black and white.

"Taylor!" he called her, "What the--!" he sighed, already knowing why she was here in the first place, "Look, if you're gonna badger me into giving you that sixty bucks for the game, not right now." he pointed his thumb over his shoulder, "I gotta go."

He turned to leave but Taylor stopped him, "Actually, that's not why I'm here f--!" she suddenly paused and gave him a good questionable look. "Wait? You owe me sixty bucks?"

Rian's eyes boggled, "You forgot?"

"No. I just said it to freak you out." she said honestly, "Speaking of game, I heard about class. Dreaming about KH3 Online HD again?"

"Okay, okay, I was dreaming about it and I was battling a Behemoth in there." Rian began, "But in my defense, my battle against it was a way to explore its natural habitat y'know? Simple as that. And since, y'know, we're learning about that mythological creature in History class, I technically got, y'know, participation point!"

"We're learning about the Behemoth in Biology class." Taylor corrected him.

Rian grabbed his sunglasses, wore them, and wrapped his arm around Taylor's shoulder, "Girl, your bro is an outlaw in the school. Just show him some support could ya?" he coolly pointed his fingers at her, clicking with his tongue, before taking off.

Taylor shook her head, smiling before heading out, unknown that something was lurking behind the shadows. It revealed its face. It was a heartless. It sneakily crawled out from beneath the ground and scurried across the emptying hallways into the school's main office.

***

Meanwhile at Disney Castle, Donald once again took another trip to the Audience Chamber.

"Good morning Your Majesty." he said joyfully, "It's nice to see you this morn--!"

… and once again he found the throne was missing its king.

"Aw, come on!!" he quacked. He then looked around the throne room, expecting someone else. But he didn't see anyone. He finally called out, "Uhh… Pluto?"

Pluto appeared from its hiding place. This time he was not carrying a letter on his jaws. He looked like he was sleeping. Donald got really concerned, "Wh-where is the King?"

Pluto cocked his head on one side, looking puzzled. Donald knew that look.

"Ya kiddin' me?" Donald exclaimed, "You don't know where the King is? Aw, that's just great. Great. Great. Great!"

"Woof!" Pluto barked on cue.

"GOOOOOFYYYYYYY!!!" Donald's cry echoed throughout the castle. But Goofy didn't hear a thing. He was sleeping in the courtyard, again.

Donald suddenly teleported in front of Goofy and pointed at him. Goofy started to float telepathically in the air and Donald began swinging wildly his fingers, crying out, "Goofy! Wake up, dang it!"

Goofy twirled wildly above Donald on cue to the duck's swinging finger. Donald had apparently cast a Zero Gravira spell on him.

"WHOOOOAAAAOOHOOHOOHOOHOOOEY!!!"

Donald swung his finger down and Goofy landed on the grassy ground hard. Goofy looked dazed. But that didn't stop Donald to jump on him and shaking him by the colon, "Goofy! Wake up! The King is missing! Again!"

"Uhh… Donald?" Goofy's eyes boggled, "Since when do you have three heads?"

Donald ignored Goofy's question, "Come on! We gotta go find him!"

Donald turned on his heel and was just about to take off but then he stopped to scream at the sight of an uninvited figure that had sneaked up behind him, "QUAAAAACK!!"

"YAAAAHOOOOEY!!" Goofy jumped at the figure's sight also. The figure was clad in a gold and red knight's armor, donning a black cape and wielding a Keyblade. Goofy and Donald immediately recognized him.

"Your King is with me." the knight said.

"Terra?" Donald gasped.

"Hiya, Terra!" Goofy greeted him.

"What's going on here?" Donald demanded, "And why is the King with you?"

"You'll know." Terra replied, "Once I take you to him."

[--- --- ---]

Rian entered the office to attend another grounding meeting with the principal.

"Rian Rivers." the secretary, a 52-year old grunting hag, didn't sound surprised to see the young man again, "Seeing the principal again I presume?"

"Yep." Rian said confidently, and then asked, "Is this gonna go on my personal records? Cuz if it is, I'd love to go in there in style, y'know? Like it should be written in stars, like 'Rian Rivers, Celebrity Outlaw'! Cool and neglectful! Huh?"

He broadly smiled at the secretary, who didn't smile back. She just stared at him blankly. Rian stopped smiling again. "Too cool?"

"The principal will see you in five." the secretary said, turning her eyes back to work.

Rian opened his mouth to speak but the secretary cut him off, her eyes on him again, "And by five, I mean minutes, not hours. Just have a seat."

Rian sat comfortably on his seat, waiting patiently for his turn to see the principal. But then he caught sight of something weird crawling the ceiling. It was the heartless. What was a heartless doing here? Outside KH3 Online HD where it was supposed to be in. He looked around the people in the office to see if they were noticing something weird. They didn't budged. He bewilderedly watched the heartless slipping into the principal's office through the door's narrow hole and stood up alerted.

"Whoa!" he cried out, catching everyone's attention. Rian grinned nervously, "Umm… Heh, heh. C-can I go see him now?"

"He's with another student, Mr. Rivers." the secretary said.

Rian couldn't help it. He had to go through that door to stop that creature bad. "but I just have to get there now. It's… kinda urgent."

"EEEP!!"

Rian heard a scream inside the office, prompting him to burst inside. He caught the principal with a drama student who seemed to be rehearsing her drama scream.

"HEY!" the principal exclaimed, "Mr. Rivers! What are you doing here?"

Rian saw the heartless crawling behind the principal and looked ready to strike.

"Principal Law, look out!" Rian ran, leapt on the table and jumped on the heartless who vanished into thin air. Rian landed right on the Principal. The Drama girl screamed. Everyone in the main office barged inside to stop Rian but it was too late.

Rian and the Principal eyeballed each other. The principal's glare looked like they were about to thrash Rian literally, "What is wrong with you?" the principal growled under his breath.

Rian quickly got up, flushed with embarrassment at what just happened. He didn't know how to explain this as he helped the principal on his feet. The office staffs went to help the principal as well. "Err… I'm so sorry, sir. It just that… I saw something… like a cockroach or something."

"A cockroach? Really?" the principal growled under his breath, sounding unconvinced.

"Well… I… I…" Rian turned to face the staffs and the snobbish girl, "Wait, didn't you all saw that?"

"I only saw myself being tackled to the ground." the principal said and the witnesses agreed.

"But…" Rian stuttered, "it was crawling about everywhere! It was freaky! It was a heartless!"

He stopped talking. Like he shouldn't have said that, acknowledging that everyone in the school, including the principal, knew what a heartless was.

"Have you been playing 'Kingdom Hearts III Online HD' again during school periods?" The principal muttered.

Rian gulped, "Only last summer."

***

"Seriously, a heartless?" Taylor couldn't believe a word coming out of Rian's mouth later that day as the duo were heading home. Taylor was not just one of Rian's best friends, she was a neighbor and a KH player in the KH3 Online HD community. So she also knew pretty much everything about the game.

"Look, I know what I saw." Rian said in protest, "It was crawling up the wall, and dancing about everywhere… like a freaky cockroach. Seriously, have you seen one?"

"Only in trashy restaurants." Taylor reminisced the time she dined at a trashy restaurant. Oh boy, the mental picture wasn't that pretty. She choked at the thought.

"I'm serious." Rian did sound serious.

"Okay, let's say that you did saw a heartless, what then? You're gonna transform into oh, I don't know, Johnny Thunder Keyblade, and battle him till he falls?"

Rian glowed at the thought, "Yes." he pointed at her. Taylor rolled her eyes, but Rian continued, "Yes, yes. That's just what I would do? What would you do? Take a Raid Roach Killer Spray and shoot it till it dies? I don't think so, girlfriend."

"No. But Ooh! I would transform into Soledad and end its life with a blazing Hurricane Fatal Mode!" Taylor grinned at the thought.

Rian rolled his eyes, "Now, let's not get carried away." he said, "And by the way, it's Thunder."

Someone wrapped in a dark hooded robe, similar to Organization XIII, was watching Rian and Taylor closely in a stalking manner. Rian sensed its presence and stopped.

"Wait." he said, "Do you feel that?"

"What?" Taylor blinked.

Rian looked around, "We're being followed." he responded.

Taylor looked around also. She then faced Rian, "Yeah…" she said, "We're being followed all right. By the entire city!"

Rian noticed everyone passing by. Midlight City was a big city, and there were twice as many people passing by each day as a regular metropolitan city. Rian faced Taylor and shrugged, "Hey, look on the bright side, at least you're safe."

"Just face it, Rian." Taylor teased, "You've been playing too many video games."

Taylor then took off.

Rian scoffed, "I'm not playing too many video games. Video games are so not messing with my head." He then headed down a street corner down a narrow alleyway, the secret passageway he passed through every time he heads home. And every time he went down that street, he'll notice this broken mirror, and every time he wouldn't care much for it.

But today, as he passed through, he stopped to stare at his reflection. Shocked to see that what the mirror displayed was not him.

It was Johnny. Johnny Thunder Keyblade.

"What the…?" Rian was staring at the reflection of his KH avatar. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple of times to see his actual reflection in the mirror.

"O-Kay. Maybe it is messing with my he… what the?!"

He suddenly saw beaming glowing eyes appearing in the mirror and a large heartless, shaped like a seven-foot human but in a gross manner, pulled out of the mirror and tackled Rian down.

"Ahhh!" Rian landed hard on the ground. He stared right at the menacing heartless and noticed its arms were glowing and it had large claws. The large heartless dug its claw toward Rian. Rian moved his hands toward in an attempt to block and a Keyblade appeared to his grasp. Rian managed to push the heartless off and jumped back on his feet. He stared at the Keyblade he held at his grasp in awe before facing himself surrounded by ten or twenty heartless, with the gruesome one as the chief.

"This can't be…" he stared back and forth at the Keyblade and the creatures.

The heartless without hesitation jumped at him. Rian swung his Keyblade horizontally and a massive thunder jolt crashed on the ground full-force, rending the heartless. Rian went flying like a speeding train and crashed right on the broken mirror and the wall before landed hard on rough ground. The Keyblade vanished from his grasp.

The wounded Rian slowly got up and saw more heartless materializing through the clearing smokescreen. Rian saw his Keyblade was gone from his grasp and without much choice he took off. The heartless went in pursuit. Rian quickly stopped when he saw more heartless blocking his path. He looked trapped and was in no way out of this one.

"What's going on? Why am I seeing heartless?" he thought.

The heartless army were closing in on him. He spotted a huge piece of wood and grabbed it.

"Stay back!" he shouted, menacing the approaching creatures, but they were still approaching. The heartless finally jumped on him. He quickly swung the piece of wood with all his might, striking them hard. But the creatures kept coming at him, and finally they all grabbed Rian and pinned him down.

"HEY!" he shouted, "Let go!"

The heartless with the gruesome claws approached Rian and paralyzed him with a cold murderous glare. Rian knew he was finished.

But suddenly the heartless vanished before it had the chance to pierce Rian's chest with its claw, only to be replaced by a Keyblade. The creatures turned their attention to the Keyblade wielder, Terra. Terra was no longer in his masked costume. His hair was brown and pointy. His eyes were fierce-blue. He wore a gray tight shirt with a red cross on it, a golden shoulder pad that reached his elbow, a Chasers' symbol on his belt buckle, large samurai baggy pants, and heavy soldier shoes.

The heartless let go of Rian to face Terra lividly.

Terra faced Rian, "Quick." he said before summoning his Keyblade, "Summon your Keyblade!" he ordered.

"You saved me." Rian stared at Terra dumbfounded, "But… who are you and why did you--!"

"Do you really need to talk about that now?" Terra said as the creatures took their strike. He swung a couple of times at them and they recoiled. "Summon your Keyblade, now!" His calm voice took a tone.

"But I can't!" Rian protested, "I'm just a kid! I don't even know how to--!" Rian stopped talking upon noticing the Keyblade at his grasp instead of the piece of wood he held. "…summon the Keyblade." he blinked.

The creatures faced Rian. They rammed at him, but Rian dodged by leaping in the air and landed right behind them, joining Terra.

Terra and Rian teamed up against the creatures, and together they swung their Keyblades like crazy, wiping out every single one of the creatures with every graceful massive damaging belt. The creatures were no more. The Keyblades disappeared from their masters' grasp.

"Phew! Man, what a rush!" Rian sighed. He then faced Terra, "Hey, man! Thanks for your--!"

"Just watch your back next time, boy." Terra told him, "Unless you wanna get your heart erased."

"What?" Rian exclaimed, "What are you talking about?"

Terra disappeared in a glowing light.

"Hey!" Rian shouted. Terra was gone.

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**Next Chapter**:: _The Behemoth that Came Down from Heaven_

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	4. Ep2: Behemoth that Came Down from Heaven

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

**_-_**_The __Behemoth that Came Down from Heaven_**_-_**

* * *

Twelve figures in black-hooded yet stylish Armani trench coats were gathered around, sitting in their respective thrones made of fine ivory. Their faces were rather pale, ashen; their lips were blood-red, and their eyes were as fierce as the freakiest cats.

"Fantastic." one of them muttered, with his usual deeper voice, "The Keyblade Knight comes to the rescue again."

"Do not worry, Samshall." the second trench coat replied with his usual laidback, poetic sound, "You know what they say: if you don't succeed at first, try again."

"Tidicus here is right, pal." a third trench coat figure agreed. She spoke her usual sultry voice with an English accent, "They won't last anyway. After all, My sweet and sour partner here has a better plan."

"What better plan?" Samshall asked, "You better not joke with me, Ivy."

Ivy turned to face Tidicus, "Honey? Care to do the honor."

Tidicus snapped his finger to reveal another large-claws heartless, twice the size of the other one. The group oohed at this latest creation. But only one of them didn't sound pleased.

"That's it?" "Another heartless? Is that the best you can do? Come on! This kid needs a challenge!" Another trench coat guy who sounded like the rough hotblooded type, complained.

"Okay, okay!" Tidicus said, "Sheesh, Firias! You're hard to please. How about _this_?"

Another finger snapping and out of the blue came a giant Behemoth replacing the large heartless, similar to the one in the game Rian was battling. The Behemoth roared. The group oohed.

"What _splendid_ work of art, wouldn't you say?" Tidicus sounded amazed.

"What _exactly_ is this creature going to do?" Samshall asked.

"Simple." Ivy began, "Having this Behemoth in play will be like killing two Keybearers with one stone."

Collective confusion spread in the group.

"How is that going to kill two Keybearers with one stone exactly?" Firias asked.

"Hello?" Tidicus said, "We're talking about Thunder's BFF Blazen? Like these two may be unstoppable and all, but this Behemoth can crush them like _fine_ powder made for _fine_ make-up."

"You mean…" Another trench coat said before waving his fingers around the thin air, forming a vivid image of Blazen, "… this hotheaded loser?"

"Exactly, Phantamis." Tidicus said, "their hearts are precious, and so are our needs."

"Excellent and well-planned, Tidicus and Ivy." said the leader of the group, who sounded like Xemnas, "Let's all hope that this creature, and you two, do not fail me."

"No problem." Ivy responded.

"And we all know, that I do not appreciate failure." he added.

"I hate failure." Firias said, a vein pumping on his forehead.

"Stop fretting, Maurchel." Tidicus addressed the leader, "This creature is a 100% failure-proof. These Keybearers will never know what hit them."

"They better." Maurchel said, "If this Behemoth can take two hearts of Pure Bravery, the better for us. The Blackhearts will not rest until all hearts are collected."

* * *

Rian spotted Terra who was walking away. He quickly went after him, "Hey! Wait! Where are you going man?" he called out.

Terra stopped. Rian finally reached him. Terra didn't bother to turn to face him.

"I asked you a question, man! You didn't answer!" Rian exclaimed.

Terra turned his head sideways, the corner of his fierce blue eyes staring directly at Rian, "Yes. The question." he said uninterestingly, "Remind me of what was it again."

"About my heart, being in trouble?" Rian asked, "You told me that I should watch my back if I don't want my heart to get… you know?" he gulped, not wanting to say the last phrase.

"What?" Terra said sternly.

"Erased!" Rian boldly said.

Terra didn't say anything.

"Okay, seriously, can you like… talk to me or something? Or can you like not talk at all?" Rian asked.

Terra finally faced him, "Like I've said to you before, heartless are running abounds in the city. The only way to get rid of them is…"

"By the Keyblade. I know, I know. Just get to the scary part already!" Rian asked.

"You want scary?" Terra said vehemently, "Okay, here it is: you are trapped in a parallel universe of your city, currently being controlled by a demonic group of heart hunters called the Blackhearts."

"Blackhearts? A parallel universe to my city? But this is Midlight City." Rian then let out a shocked gasp, "… wait, what are you saying? Are you saying that I am inside the game?"

"A _game_?" Terra sternly said, "You think this is a _game_ to you?"

"Buddy." Rian patted Terra on the shoulder, "I _know_ that I am in the game."

Terra looked over his shoulder where Rian had his hand on, then back at Rian. Rian quickly removed his hand off Terra's shoulder.

"The Blackhearts created a device that literally traps anyone who gets exposed to it: that video game." Terra began, "Furthermore, this device creates a special avatar based on the player's personal preference: the Keybearer in him. And that Keybearer possesses a Heart of Pure Bravery. Now, these heroes are losing their Hearts and are disappearing from the face of existence itself as we speak, due to the Blackhearts' dirty work. Hence, the erasure."

"Whoa." Rian sounded frightened.

"These shadows that you've encountered are heartless." Terra went on, "But the Blackhearts created a new form of them. They're the ones with the claws. Wild, nasty, merciless creatures. All-vicious. They can withstand magic and are specialized at taking out hearts of Pure Bravery."

"Talk about scary." Rian muttered, "But what do those 'Blackhearts' plan on doing with these Hearts they're trying to collect?"

"I'm not exactly sure of their intentions." Terra said, "But I predict the outcome of their success will be far greater than the purest of darkness."

Rian cocked his head on one side, "Huh?"

Terra went on, "There are still a few number of Keybearers in this world." Terra then looked over his Digital Gauntlet and pushed a few buttons to display a holographic image of Johnny Thunder's Stats. Rian's jaws dropped at this sight.

"According to your stats," Terra went on, "You happen to be the best Keybearer in the city."

The stats screen flickered out. Rian looked up, "Wait, how did you--?"

"It's up to you now, Johnny Thunder Keyblade," Terra interrupted him, "to gather up these hunted Keybearers to form a stalwart army strong enough to defeat the Blackhearts at their very own game, before they chanced it by claiming more Hearts. Especially yours."

"Actually dude, The name's Rian." Rian corrected Terra. Terra narrowed his eyes at him. Rian raised his hands in surrender, "Johnny Thunder sounds good."

Terra's digital gauntlet glowed a menthol green color. Terra pushed a button and a holographic map was displayed on the floating screen in place of Johnny Thunder's stats. He looked alerted upon seeing a dark-red color heart dot moving closer to a Keyblade-shaped dot.

"We must move fast." he said, "I've detected yet another Keybearer nearby. And the Blackhearts are closing in on him." Terra then faced Rian, "I'm sure you've known or heard about this guy before: the Keybearer of Fire, Blazen."

"Blazen?" Rian knew that name very well, "Dude! I know Blazen! He's like… my partner-in-crime in the game!" he then paused, "Oh, wait. I forgot. That ain't a game."

Terra rolled his eyes. Rian went on, "But I know who he is. He's so cool. Well, not as cool as me. And yet I never actually _seen_ his face in real-life before, and yet his voice reminds me a lot like--!"

"Are you going to talk all day, or are we going to move out?" Terra snapped bluntly. Rian turned to see him standing besides a Keyhole shaped portal. Rian's jaws dropped again.

"Whoooaa! How did you…?"

Terra entered the portal and it disappeared. Rian looked blanked, "…do that?" he turned angry, "HEY! What's the big idea?" he looked around searching for Terra or the portal, "How am I supposed to know where you are, man?"

The portal reappeared again and Terra's hand came out of it, pulling Rian inside.

"Whoaaaaaaah!!"

Rian suddenly appeared inside a sophisticated Ship. Terra was in the pilot seat.

"Buckle up." Terra said commandingly, "We're gonna go full-speed ahead whether you like it or not."

"I never said I didn't like it!" Rian then stared around the ship, admiring its many technical features, "And cool jet!"

"It's not a jet. It's a Gummi Ship. And it's no toy." Terra shifted gear and the jet took off at a blind-sighting speed, with Rian screaming all the way to another Keyhole-shaped portal.

**

* * *

-Radiant Kingdom-**

The keyhole-shaped portal opened up in the middle of the splendid town of Main Street USA overlooked by the majestic Cinderella's Castle of Dreams. Terra and Rian came out of the portal and landed hard on the concrete brick road. Rian appeared different. His hair was now brown and spiky like Sora, but pointing behind. And he wore a a silver tricked-out shirt with a large diamond-made spiky shoulderpad that reached down to his elbow on his left shoulder; silver baggy shorts, and silver shoes similar to Sora's. He also donned a cape that looked worn out, and wore stylish sunglasses with dark-red lenses.

Rian was now Johnny Thunder. Terra was back in his red and gold knight armor.

"Whoa." Thunder breathed at his surroundings, "This place is…?"

"This is the Radiant Kingdom." Terra said, "This place, as well as Midlight City, are going to be the cornerstones of your mission."

Thunder then noticed his costume, "What am I wearing? I look fly!"

"You're Johnny Thunder." Terra responded, "Isn't that's what you are."

Thunder faced Terra in shock, "I look like Johnny Thunder? Seriously?" Thunder then frowned at Terra, noticing something very familiar with him and breathed in surprise, "HEY! I know who you are now! You're Terra!"

Terra didn't say anything. He didn't even muster a smile.

"Aw man, this is so cool!" Thunder exclaimed, "Terra and Thunder together on one mission? This is gonna be so epic, we're gonna kick butt!"

On cue, he summoned his Keyblade and confidently swung it around before finishing it with a pose, "Take that!" he faced Terra full of vigor, Keyblade no longer in hand, "Whoo!"

"Yeah sure, don't lose focus of your mission now." Terra reminded him, "I don't want you to be like some people who forget to look for something, or _someone_," Terra was thinking about Donald and Goofy there, "and then get all stressed out about it. I'll be back to check up on you."

Terra disappeared in a flashing light. Thunder turned around to face the road ahead, "Don't worry, Terra my man. I'm not going to lose focus. Thunder is on the case."

Thunder slipped on his red stylish sunglasses, popped a collar, and headed down the road. At the same time, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto all made their appearances at street's corner. Donald appeared frustrated, and Goofy appeared distracted. But Pluto with his nose-scented ability was leading them further down the street.

"Goofy! We can't lose focus!" Donald exclaimed, "We have to find the King!"

"I know, but I'm hungry!" Goofy complained before his stomach growled on cue like a monster in a hollow chamber.

"I can't believe Terra would do that to us!" Donald exclaimed, "Giving us the location of the King, and then ditch us like that to find him by ourselves! What's his problem?"

"Maybe he's busy helping somebody." Goofy then looked up in thought, "Maybe he's feeding homeless children."

Donald jumped over Goofy and knuckle-punched him hard on the head, "Knock it off, Goofy!" he then pulled Goofy closer to him and said to his ears, "Okay, here's the deal! How about we feed you. How does pancakes sound?"

"PANCAKES!" Goofy hollered, piercing Donald's ears. Donald glowered at him. Goofy gulped, "Sorry."

"Okay, then let's go get some food." Donald pointed the road for Pluto and Pluto led the way again with his nose.

* * *

Thunder was at an intersection, observing every single place he was passing by, in search of Blazen. But to no avail. Thunder was getting less and less focus on his mission and got more and more distracted.

"A Mad Tea Party? A musical revue? A French restaurant? A treehouse in the middle of a town?" Thunder breathed, "Wow, talk about paradise on earth."

Thunder didn't look where he was going when he bumped into someone.

"Hey, watch it!" the person said.

"Oh, dude. I'm..." Thunder stopped; shocked at seeing the person he bumped into. He lowered his sunglasses to get a good look "Wait a minute..."

"Oh boy." the person felt busted, and trying to look away.

"Taylor?" Thunder gasped.

Taylor also appeared different, as she was wearing a red and black shirt, a black sweatshirt, jeans and black sneakers.

"Taylor?" she exclaimed, "Who's Taylor? My name is not Taylor!"

"_You're_ Taylor." Thunder countered.

She sighed in defeat, "Okay fine, I am Taylor! But in the game I'm Soledad! Get it, _Thunder?_"

"Ah-Ha!" Thunder exclaimed, "So you admitted it! You're in the game too! See? What did I tell you? I wasn't kidding about me seeing the heartless, right? Or me, being followed, right?"

"Okay fine, you were right!" Soledad exclaimed, "You weren't kidding about the heartless."

"And why did you deny it?"

"Why did I? Well, doesn't it feel kinda weird and stupid to tell people that you are actually seeing a heartless that is supposed to be fictional walking down your streets?"

"And you think I'm weird." Thunder smiled, "Welcome to my world."

Suddenly a low growling from a distance pulled their attention.

"What was that?" Soledad wondered.

"Uh... my stomach?" Thunder responded, "duh."

The low growling was heard again. This time, louder.

Soledad shook her head when she spotted something large overgrowing at a distance, with its shadow covering most of the town and frightening many people, "That's no stomach!" she pointed.

Thunder and Soledad watched the large Behemoth approaching with crushing footsteps.

"Oh... my...!" Thunder gasped.

The Behemoth let out a ferocious roar that shook the earth and scared off the citizens standing in its way.

Goofy and Donald were having delicious pancakes at the pancake house, failing to notice the Behemoth terrorizing the busy kingdom in the background.

Donald gobbled up some blueberry pancakes and joyfully rubbed his stomach, "Mm, Mm, Mhn! Y'know! People don't make breakfast like these now these days! Heck, they don't even sit down for breakfast!" he then observed the people running for their lives, still clueless of what is going on, "Hey! They should do that again!" he said, "Totally nostalgical!"

Goofy finally noticed the Behemoth, and his mouthful of pancakes, hanged open, "Uhh… Donald?"

Donald sighed in defeat, "Yeah… you're right. Nostalgical ain't a word. Convenience should." Donald then pulled out a huge smile, "Hey, maybe we should order some to-go!"

"You think?" Goofy said before twisting Donald's head around, for the duck to see what was happening.

The Behemoth eyeballed them.

"RRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!"

"QUAAAAAACKWAWAAWAWA!!"

"YAAAAHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!!"

Donald and Goofy took off in a mad dash. Pluto stayed behind, growling and barking at the menace. Donald extended his arm and grabbed Pluto quickly out of danger, just in the nick of time for the Behemoth to stomp his feet on where the trio were. The Behemoth went at their pursuit, thrashing everything that was standing in his way.

"This is so not what I've signed up for!" Donald exclaimed.

"Wh--Where's help when we need it?" Goofy exclaimed.

The Behemoth stopped his pace upon noticing an airship flying toward it nearby. It was Blazen's airship the Sun Flier. Just like in the game. And just like it also, Blazen was seen dangling on a rope ladder pulled down by it. And again, just like in the game, Blazen's hair was buzzcut. The Keybearer wore floating visors (similar to Johnny's sunglasses), a blue shirt underneath an orange gold pulled back long-sleeved vest, gold baggie short, black boots and tricked-out gauntlets. His costume was similar to Master Form Sora but costume is orange gold.

"Stop right there, Beast!" Blazen said smugly, his Keyblade aimed at the beast, "Your hunting season days are over."

The Behemoth faced Blazen. He shook his body before letting out a huge roar.

"Blazen? Is that you?"

Blazen heard Thunder calling out to him and turned to spot him with Soledad.

"Johnny boy?" Blazen exclaimed, "What--?"

"Am I doing here?" Thunder cut him off, "Yeah, funny story. We're inside the game. Yeah. And by the way, it's Thunder."

The Behemoth roared again, catching the distracted Blazen's attention. Blazen suddenly got knocked out by the Behemoth's colossal paw and crashed into a roof.

"Thunder! This is no time for chit-chatting! The town needs our help here!" Soledad exclaimed.

Thunder and Soledad went to face the beast. The Blackhearts, minus Tidicus and Ivy, were watching the event through a live streaming HD image flickering in midair at their throne chamber.

"Two Keybearers, he said." Firias sounded angry, as usual, "Now we've got _three_?"

"But isn't that what we want?" Percicle, another addition to the Blackhearts told Firias, "Killing two birds with one stone?"

"That's three." Firias corrected, "And three is too much!!"

"Three is perfect." Denzol, one of the blackheart with a deep croaky voice said with a smug.

"Indeed." Samshall said, "That's three Hearts for the taking. Three powers."

* * *

"Blazen!" Thunder and Soledad ran to help Blazen out.

"You're okay man?" Thunder asked.

"I was about to ask you all the same thing." The voice of Tidicus caught the Keybearers' attention.

Blazen shook his fist at them, "You!" he exclaimed, "Tidicus! Ivy!"

"Hope you don't mind, but we're composing a little orchestra here." Tidicus waved his hands around as if composing an orchestral play, and on cue the Behemoth went swinging paws and horns with all its might, landing blows at the Keybearers. The Keybearers screamed in danger.

"…And we need you for some _painful_ side effect." Tidicus finished.

"Enjoying the play?" Ivy laughed.

Meanwhile, Goofy, Donald and Pluto were far away from the Behemoth, but Goofy stopped and turned around to face the creature.

"Uhh… Donald?" Goofy muttered, "Shouldn't we help?"

"Great idea, Goofy! We should help ourselves!" Donald exclaimed.

Goofy turned to face him at the kingdom's port, trying to get his boat started. Pluto barked for Goofy to join in.

"I'm serious, Donald! Look!" Goofy pointed at the Behemoth confronting the three Keybearers, "We should be helping them! We helped Sora before! Why can't we help them?"

"Because we're looking for the King!"

Goofy eyeballed Donald. Donald sighed, "Aw come on! Don't give me that look!"

Goofy kept giving Donald his usual guilty sadden look, followed by a puppy dog whining in addition. And like every time it worked. Donald gave up, "Okay fine!"

Donald jumped off his boat and Pluto joined in.

"This beast is too tough for our skin!" cried out Thunder.

"How can we stop it?" Soledad exclaimed.

"With a little more fire, we can scorch it!" Blazen exclaimed and pointed his Keyblade toward the Behemoth.

At the same time, Donald and Goofy were seen secluded from the Keybearers and the Behemoth. Donald pointed his staff up toward the Behemoth.

"Fira! Back at ya!" Blazen's Keyblade shot out a massive fireball.

"Thundaja! Shock ya back!" Donald's staff called forth an array of thunder bolts from above.

The Behemoth suddenly cried out in agony as thunder and fire simultaneously overwhelmed the creature to everyone's surprise.

The Behemoth disappeared in smoke and an awkward silence filled the air.

Blazen pumped his fist in the air and the Keybearers joined in the victory, "Whoo-Hoo!" he faced his friends, "Y'all see that pal? I melted him!"

"M-m-m-my Behemoth!" Tidicus' jaws dropped. "H-How--!"

"Pathetic. Come on let's go." Ivy grabbed Tidicus and she and him both disappeared into thin air.

"Did you see that, guys?" Blazen exclaimed at the Keybearers, "I melted him! See? Me?"

"I don't think you did." Soledad shook her head.

"Oh yeah, girlfriend? Says who?" Blazen confronted Soledad.

Soledad shrugged, "I dunno. Says the person who casted that Thundaja Spell attack. You can't even do Thundaja spell because you're a Fire-based Keybearer." she immediately faced Thunder, "And no! You didn't do it either because you still got no skills at this technique."

Thunder remained silence and struck with shock. Somehow Soledad knew too much info about him.

Blazen pouted, "Dang girl, way to ruin a mood."

Donald and Goofy, who were still not seen by the Keybearers faced each other and nodded with smiles on their faces before heading back.

The Keybearers heard clapping. They turned to face Terra, approaching them, "Way to go, Keybearers of Pure Bravery. You are truly what the world needs, especially you Thunder. Congrats on your mission."

Thunder hauntingly popped his collar, "Eh! You know how I do."

"Hey! I melted that monster! Didn't I?" Blazen exclaimed.

"Hey, who were those guys that were controlling the Behemoth?" Soledad asked.

"Tidicus the Charming and Ivy the Poison." Terra said, "These inseparable duo are members of the Blackhearts Dominion, looking to claim your Hearts of Pure Bravery." Terra then nudged his head up to face the sky, "The worlds around you, and your city are full of danger and challenges the Dominion will throw at you." he then faced the crew again, "You best be ready for them. Thunder. It's up to you. Blazen and Soledad, give him support. But don't start resting up now yet. Your adventures are just beginning."

"What?" the Keybearers exclaimed.

"Your next task is to locate the King's Royal Friends: Donald and Goofy. They are essential helpers on your journey. Without them, you'll be nothing. So find them and join force with them."

On cue, Terra vanished again. Thunder, Soledad and Blazen stared at each other, all confused.

Blazen looked furious, "Without them we are nothing? What kind of talk is that? _Blazen_ here don't need no charity. _He_ works alone."

* * *

Back at Midlight City High School. Rian saw his friend Taylor at her locker and rushed up to her, "Hey Taylor!" he called.

Taylor faced him briefly before staring back at her locker to get her stuffs, "Hey, Thunder!"

Rian stuttered, "Wh--whoa! Wait!" he quickly looked around the busy students passing by then muttered, "Don't call me that!"

"Why not?" Taylor smiled, "I know your secret."

"And I know your secret too!" Rian replied, "But I don't want people to know that we're Keybearers trapped in an Online HD video game, chosen to save our city and the other worlds around it."

Rian and Taylor felt uncomfortable with each other. They slowly turned to stare at the students who were staring back. Apparently they heard them.

"It's a school play." Rian told them.

The students went back to their stuffs.

"Nice save." Taylor said before changing subjects, "Hey, guess who I just ran into?"

"Blazen?" Rian guessed with anticipation, "You know, speaking of Blazen, we never got the chance to see who really _is _Blazen. You know we got so much in common, right?"

"Only in the game." Taylor rolled her eyes, "But that's not who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Talen Brightfire!"

Rian stopped smiling at that name, "Wait. Talen Brightfire?" he then said with a tone, "As in Rich boy Talen Brightfire?"

"Who else?"

The front doors of the school blew open, giving way for a cocky African-American heartthrob to make his entrance. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt underneath a dark-red graffiti shirt, white jeans and red sneakers. His sneaky eyes were sported by his stylish D&G sunglasses, and he wore his NY hip-hop cap. He was escorted by his posse: two large heavyweight men who could pass for his bodyguards, wearing black suits and the same D&G sunglasses.

Everyone was a fan of Talen Brightfire. Guys idolized him, and girls fantasized him being their boyfriend. As a matter of fact, he has not being single since the first grade. He was popular, hotheaded, and he was all-that.

Taylor couldn't take her eyes off Talen. That gave Rian the chills down his bone. Why would his best friend associates herself with Rich boy Talen Brightfire? He snapped his finger, snapping her out of it, "Hey!"

Taylor blinked, "Sorry."

"What's the matter with you?" Rian asked, already knowing the answer.

"Rian." Taylor then exclaimed, "It's Talen Brightfire!"

"Who cares?" Rian snapped, "Taylor! Aren't we supposed to be thinking about something else?"

Taylor tried to listen but she couldn't focus.

"We should be focused on our mission. We need to find more of the Keybearers before the Blackhearts Dominion does. And Blazen is one of the Keybearers! We got bigger fishes to fry other than dating a loser like Talen Brightfire."

Taylor gasped, "How dare you calling him a loser, _you're_ the loser!"

Talen spotted Rian and Taylor and approached them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Well, well, well." Talen proudly smiled, "Look what the Gs brought me here." he eyeballed Rian, "That's G for grand. And grand's for moolah."

Taylor stared at Talen dreamily, "Hi…" she uttered.

Talen stared back at Taylor. He responded after a brief hesitant pause, "Hi."

"What is it you want, Talen Brightfire?" Rian then cocked his head on one side, staring at Talen suspiciously as if he had seen him from somewhere. "And haven't I seen you from somewhere? 'Cuz you look like I did."

"Err… School?" Rian responded sarcastically, "From first grade till now? Sheesh Rivers, ever heard of a yearbook or something? Oh, wait!"

Talen snapped his fingers and one of his heavyweight posse pulled out an autograph picture of him from a briefcase he was carrying and handed it to Talen. Talen then handed it to Rian, "Here."

Rian stared at the picture, then back at Talen, "An autograph picture of you?"

"Something to remember me by. Without forgettin'."

"I already know who you are, man! I don't need this." Rian said.

"Oh, then why'd you ask for it?" Talen snapped his fingers again and the thug snatched the picture from Rian's grasp. Talen went on, "And could you tell your girlfriend to stop drooling all over my style? Unless she wanna be my woman."

The students in the background oohed at the insult, but that didn't do any effect on Taylor. She was still staring as if bewitched.

Talen pushed past Rian and his posse followed. Rian felt a vein pumping on his forehead and a fist forming, "I hate him so much." he said.

"I love him." Taylor replied romantically.

"I despise 'em!" Firias, who was watching the teens with his Blackheart fellows from their throne room looked enraged. He angrily faced Tidicus, "HOW CAN YOU LET THIS BEHEMOTH GET DEFEATED THAT FAST BY--?!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" A dark-blue haired Blackheart member, a female named Sage the Calm spoke to Firias in a mellow tone, "Now Firias, there's no reason to get all angry over this. Try to relax, okay. Hey, make sure you don't lose sight of the BIBOS System. The Breathe-in Breathe-out Stress System, 'kay? Breathe-in…"

Sage breathed in, and Firias breathed in.

"…breathe-out…"

Sage breathed out, and Firias breathed out.

"…and…"

Sage let out another round and finished with a big strong relieving sigh, and Firias did the same.

"…sigh." Sage smiled peacefully, "There, feel any better?"

Firias shook his head on cue.

Sage faced Tidicus and Ivy, "I hope you got a better plan."

"Even better." Tidicus said with his usual haughty smirk, "Behemoth may have been defeated…"

Firias stood up from his throne, as if provoked. Ivy quickly added, "…but if you could let us finish…!"

Firias went back to his seat. Tidicus snapped his fingers once more, and the giant Behemoth reappeared again. This time, he appeared with a black-onyx coat and had red paws and claws like one of their twisted heartless.

"Our Tidy-Ivycus Code goes like this:" Tidicus began, "Anyone who managed to defeat any of our created creatures, will feel its _revived_ ruthless cold form, tres tres mal. No doubt."

Ivy stared strangely at Tidicus, "Tidy-Ivycus?"

Tidicus raised his arms in glory, "Behold, Your god, Neo-Behemoth!"

The Behemoth opened its eyes, and they shone in a blink. The Behemoth let out a ferocious roar that was twice as loud as the last. The Blackhearts smiled.

"Excellent. Truly pure excellence." Maurchel laughed, "This monster promises to be no failure this time. Well done."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Next Chapter**:: _Gummi Party_

* * *


	5. Ep3: Gummi Party

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**Gummi Party**-**_

* * *

The next morning came in Midlight City High School, and students invaded their school halls, not looking forward to yet another day of lectures, quizzes and exams. But then a large body of popular kids were causing a commotion over at the quad, drawing most of these students into the most exciting news, besides the last day of school before Spring Break. Rian and Taylor were among some of these students drawn to the commotion.

"I wonder what's going on?" Taylor looked curious.

"Maybe they've found Blazen!" Rian lit up.

Taylor shook her head, "Don't be ridiculous. It must be--!"

"Guys!" another female voice called out to Rian and Taylor. The duo were greeted by the voice's source. It was a blonde girl with highlights who had large and perky eyes, and wore a white shirt, mini shorts, and sneakers matching her shirt, with a snow-white colored sweater attached around her neck, making it look like she was wearing a cape.

"Sierra!" Taylor greeted the girl, "Hey girl, what's going on?"

"What's with all the commotion?" Rian asked.

Sierra gasped, "Don't tell me you guys aren't aware of the hottest party ever?!"

"A hot party?" Taylor gasped, "Who's hosting?" she then held off her cheer, "Oh, wait! Don't tell me. It's some senior jock who cares about nothing but _more_ of themselves, right?"

Sierra shook her head, "No, it's that new kid Talen Brightfire! Tonight's his Sweet-16 Birthday Bash!"

Taylor lit up like a bright light. "TALEN?!"

Rian frowned, "Talen?!"

Sierra went on, "Ohmygosh, he is sooo hot…I heard his parties are like, being at a celebrity pool party with three huge pools in the backyard, and in the balcony, and another one in the middle of the living room! Seriously!"

"A pool in the middle of a living room?! Shut _UP_!" Taylor freaked out, "We gotta get to that party like RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

Taylor and Sierra went dashing for the group of students to get their invite and get the scoop.

"Hey wait a minute, what--?" Rian didn't finish and the girls were already gone. "Oh, great." he sighed.

* * *

Johnny Thunder was back at the Radiant Kingdom, looking at a holographic map hovering above his digital gauntlet, and scanning the street he was in.

"So, according to Terra, I must locate the King's Royal Friends, Donald and Goofy." He said before pushing a few more buttons on his gauntlet, and in came Donald and Goofy's stats screen.

"Now, where could those two be?" he pondered, looking across his surroundings, until his eyes got fixed on a large colorful and stylish Gummi Ship resting at the kingdom's airship deck. It was large enough to fit 100 people, sophisticated enough to look like a jet.

"Whoaa!" he breathed, "Is that a Gummi Ship?"

Donald and Goofy were also admiring the ship's new jet-like design, unaware that Thunder was behind them.

"Gee, Donald." Goofy began, "It was awful nice for Terra to give us his Gummi Ship. And just look at how stylish it looks like!"

"Yeah, real stylish!" Donald replied, "I wonder how fast it goes comparing to our old Gummi ship?"

"Probably like a jet?" Goofy guessed, pointing out at the design.

"You mean a _Sonic_ Jet!" Thunder's exclamation made Donald and Goofy jump. Donald landed on Goofy's arms, shaking.

"I gotta tell you, man! Boardin' this ship before was tight. But seeing it from its full-exterior is WAY cool!" Rian chuckled.

Donald jumped off Goofy and gave Rian a mean stare, "And just who the quack are you?"

"Don't y'all know me?" Rian replied, "I'm Rian! I mean… ahem!" he cleared his throat, "I'm Johnny! Johnny 'Thunder' Keyblade. You can also call me Thunder."

Donald rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

"Hey! Aren't you one of the new Keybearers?" Goofy asked, "The one possessin' one of them Hearts of Pure Light?"

"You mean, Bravery?" Rian corrected.

"That too!"

Donald sighed, "I guess he is, Goofy." he then turned around to face the Gummi Ship in admiration, "Terra told us you'd be here lookin' for us." he addressed Thunder, before heading toward the ship, "Come on, we got lots of adventures ahead of us!"

Thunder startled, "Wait, whoa! Adventures? Where're we goin'?"

Donald spun around to face Thunder, "To the worlds of course!" he said, his arms raised up high in glory, "You! Me! Goofy! Pluto! Other Keybearers…! We've got places to go! People to see! We got a quest to fulfill!"

"Yeah!" Goofy replied, "Like uh… find them other Keybearers with Hearts of Pure Gold!"

"Bravery, Goofy." Donald corrected.

"That too!" Goofy said again, "And we gotta find the King too!"

"Whoa, the King?" Thunder said, "As in the King of Disney Castle, King Mickey? Aw, man!" he sighed, "Look guys, as tempting as I feel about going with y'all on this fantastic voyage, I can't. I was told to find you and that was it, not to get into this full-length epic quest! I got school!"

But then Thunder paused, rethinking what he just said. Though it's importantly crucial to attend school, the thrill of going onto an adventure based on an ever-popular video game, is WAY better than school.

"Although…" he smirked, "that makes a great excuse to skip school and save the world instead!"

Donald and Goofy smiled at each other before facing Rian, "OK!" Donald said, "And as we'll be heading out, you'll be undergoing a module of training sessions in order to get well-adapted with your Keyblade and your magical powers."

"Sweet! And before we do take off," Thunder added, "how about you let me borrow this…" he laid hand on the Gummi Ship, staring at its magnificent coat, "… beautiful tricked-out goddess of all high speeds here--?"

"No!" Donald snapped.

"What?" Thunder exclaimed, "But you didn't let me finish!"

"The Gummi Ship is made specifically for traveling-only, not for showing off at parties!" Donald added.

"Only one party!" Rian protested, "And it's the hottest one of the year! It's Talen Brightfire's Sweet 16!"

"Gawrsh, Talen _Blind_fire? Is he also a Keybearer?" Goofy scratched his head.

Rian scoffed, "You wish. He's this obnoxious guy at my school who thinks he's all-that. I wanna show him what it's like to be all that by crashing his party with _this_!"

Rian raised his arms in admiration to the Gummi Ship on cue, "Huh? See how beautiful this is?"

Donald and Goofy stared briefly at each other, before facing Thunder again. "Oh, I get it!" Donald beamed, "You're worried about losing your popularity to another cool kid, huh?"

Goofy laughed on cue. Thunder hesitated, "Whaat?"

"Hyuck! That is totally true!" Goofy snickered.

Thunder quickly shook his head, "No! That's totally not it! I'm not worried about a party stealing my popularity streak! I'm not!" Thunder then laughed nervously, "No, really!"

Donald and Goofy shook their heads in disbelief.

"Then stop worrying about it, Johnny!" Donald advised, "It's just a party." he started walking away, but then he stopped to give Thunder a quick glance, "Deal with it, and keep out of the ship till we come back."

Donald and Goofy leave the dock. Thunder sighed, "I wish I could." he told himself. He then proceeded to turn on his digital gauntlet. A holographic video displayed, and he turned horrified by what he saw.

"He's not having his party at his house! He's having it at the Midlight City Central Plaza!"

* * *

Talen's Sweet-16 Birthday Bash kicked off with the usual grand Happy Birthday song, completed with fireworks, drinks, howling cheers, and a blasting live concert from guest musical sensations like Rascal Flatts, Green Day, Yuna and her girlfriends, and even Jonas Brothers, that ripped the city's night sky. The party raided the entire city's atmosphere by storm, and everyone (the entire city) was invited.

Students from the school were not just the usual party guests. They were part of it. For they too received gifts from Talen Brightfire, and autographs from their favorite bands. And because the city's Plaza was near a fountain and over at a beach, the waters were infested with the usual beachgoers and party animals.

"Hey, Taylor!" called out Sierra from a distance. Taylor, whose mind was preoccupied, didn't respond until she saw her friend approach. Sierra was with her boyfriend Pierre. He was tall and dashing with his sandy blond hair with sideburns and green eyes, and wore casual sea-green T-shirt, jeans and matching shoes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, "I called you and you didn't respond!"

Taylor carried a sad look on her face, "Matt's not coming." she said solemnly.

Sierra looked stunned at the news, "What? Your boyfriend's not coming?"

"He got held up at work." Taylor explained.

"But this is the party of the year!" Sierra protested, "Everyone should come!"

Pierre shrugged, "But they'll be other parties." he said.

Sierra and Taylor took sharp breaths, "Other… parties?" Sierra repeated sternly.

Pierre hesitated, his eyes looked over the two glaring girls, "Did I say something wrong?"

"Yeah." Sierra replied, her voice still high-pitched, "Other. Parties. Did you not hear me say 'Party of the _year_'?"

"I… guess I did?" Pierre smiled sheepishly.

"Yo, everybody! Can I get your A-TEN-SHUUN!?" Talen projected his voice from over a set of turntables, with a headphone held over one ear while holding a microphone with his right hand.

The massive city crowd cheered in response.

"Are you ready to get down and funky with some of the MAD-DJ-STYLE of the year from the Birthday BOYY?"

The crowd went wild again, and Talen played on cue some hip-hop mix of _Subarashiki Kono Sekai + The World Ends with You _and _Street Fighter III, _and more hip-hop coolness.

No one in the city were aware of the menace watching them from above the highest skyscraper. It was Tidicus and Ivy again.

"I believe that we too are ready for the party." Tidicus glanced over at Ivy with a snooty smile.

"You mean the party that _we_ didn't get an invite to?" Ivy replied, before snapping her fingers. The Neo-Behemoth materialized behind them on cue.

"I believe so too." she smiled back and Tidicus chuckled. The Neo-Behemoth roared on cue.

* * *

Talen's birthday party was going full-blast, to Thunder's shock and panic. He couldn't believe the party was going to take away his popularity. And he was still standing there, watching!

He quickly shut off the holographic screen with the gauntlet and started pacing back and forth, "I gotta do something." he pondered, "I gotta crash that party. But…" he paused, "but how?"

He glanced over the Gummi Ship. That ship is his only ticket! But then again Donald and Goofy, mostly Donald, restricted him to touch it.

He looked over the dock and over the kingdom. He saw no one in sight. No Donald. No Goofy. No one. The coast was clear.

He slipped on his sunglasses and seized that chance to sneak into the ship. He took one last look over the Radiant Kingdom to see if no one was watching him, before quickly boarding.

He went over the pilot seat and faced the ship's control panel, looking for a switch or something to start off the ship.

"Okay… what to push. What to push." Thunder sounded fretting. So many buttons and switches were laid in front of him, he was afraid of activating the wrong one. But then again, he had to turn it on fast before he get caught. He was breaking a rule here!

Heck, he always broke the rules. Being the bad boy always brought him that much excitement, especially the excitement of knowing when he'll get—!

"BARK!"

Thunder spun around in panic, nearly fell off his seat. He saw Pluto, slowly approaching and growling.

"Ohh-Kay." Thunder stammered, "Good boy. I'm…" he then raised his hands in surrender, "I'm not gonna touch anything. See?"

Pluto continued growling. Thunder slowly got up, his hands still up, "But you just need to know, that my reputation's at stake here… so… how about we talk this out, huh?"

Thunder tripped on the pilot's chair when he wasn't looking and his elbow pulled a switch. The entire ship illuminated, then a humming was heard at every corner, and the ship's engine started.

PREPARE TO TAKE OFF! PREPARE TO TAKE OFF! A voiceover was heard. Pluto and Thunder looked around, not liking where this was going. Thunder tried to pull the switch back in place, but nothing happened.

The ship's door was heard closing. Thunder ran for it. Pluto followed. They were too late. The door had closed.

"Aw man! It's locked!"

The ship started budging and Thunder knew what this meant. With no choice, he ran for the pilot's seat and put on his seatbelt just in time for the ship to start moving. Pluto went for his safety belt also.

"Look man! I know you must really hate me now, but you gotta help me out here pal!" Thunder begged Pluto, "I dunno how to work this thing!"

Pluto was too afraid and confused to respond.

"Aw, who am I kidding?" Thunder confessed to himself, his voice shaking, " A dog can't ride this either! We're doomed!"

Donald and Goofy returned to the dock just in time to watch the Gummi Ship taking off before their very eyes. The duo blankly stared at it disappearing into the sky and out of view.

"I think we shouldn't left the door open." Goofy muttered after a moment of silence.

* * *

Talen's Sweet 16 birthday bash was still going full-blast. No one was paying attention to the summoned menace that was watching over them from a skyscraper, and peering its hungry eyes over its next victims. The Behemoth growled again, but the music drowned out its roar.

Talen sensed uneasiness in his heart. He peered across the sky before looking over his party guests, who were dancing the night away. He went over another DJ, asked him to take over his turntables, before stepping down. He saw Taylor and approached her.

"Hey, you!" he called her.

Taylor frowned. What kind of formality was that, she wondered? "I have a name y'know?" she bitterly said.

"Yeah, I know." Talen said uncaringly, "And that'll take time and interest. So whatever, where is your boyfriend? I need to talk to him. It's urgent." Talen asked, referring to his rival Rian.

"Y'know?" Taylor turned to glare at Talen, dismissing his question, "For a popular kid, you got some nerve talking to people who may end up being your friends…" she briefly paused, "or your enemies like that."

Talen rolled his eyes like he didn't have time for that nonsense now, "Honey, unless you wanna tell me where Rian is, you're wasting your breath," he said, "I need to challenge the coward to a KH battle, but since he's not crashing my party, then good riddance."

Taylor's jaws were dropped at that first comment, "Oh my gosh." she said, "You are such a--!" Taylor stopped talking, suddenly stunned at the game disc Talen held up. She faced him again, a smirk slowly appearing on her lips "…wait, you play _Kingdom Hearts 3 Online HD_?"

Talen shrugged, "Sure. What's it to ya?"

Taylor provocatively pierced Talen's chest with her finger, "I bet you can't defeat me in a Kingdom Hearts battle."

Her challenge pulled the crowd's attention away from the party and into the duo's commotion.

"Oh, so you a gamer huh?" Talen said with a smirk, before giving a good glance at Taylor from toes to head. He pursed his lips, "Meh." he muttered, "You'll get your figure back."

The crowd oohed in response. Taylor's eyes coldly stared at Talen. Both Taylor and Talen were facing each other, unaware the crowd had surrounded them to form a circle, but they both knew that they were going to battle whether the crowd was present or not.

Taylor and Talen took steps back, and the crowd watched a giant blimp hovering over the plaza with a huge HDTV screen dangled by it.

Taylor and Talen pulled out their WiFi wireless controllers as if by magic, eyes at each other as if peering deep into their souls in search of each others' weaknesses.

"Ready to game?" Talen mustered a smile.

"Then game." Taylor replied.

Talen suddenly felt that uneasiness in his heart again. His sneaky eyes looked around its corners warily. Taylor felt that same way also. They both knew something bad was going to happen.

A cry was heard from a distance. A star blinked in the sky, giving that sense that something was falling from above. Suddenly the Gummi ship appeared, falling like a shooting star at great speed. It pierced through the blimp, and its HDTV screen landed hard on the plaza midst and shattered into million pieces.

Everyone ran screaming as the Gummi ship was heading toward them.

Rian and Pluto were also screaming, trying to stop the Gummi ship's fall.

"HOW DO I STOP THIS THING?!" Rian shouted as he kept on pushing buttons and pulling switches, but nothing happened. He finally reached for a cord underneath the control panel and pulled. The Gummi ship stopped midair. Its nose was inches away from the plaza's fountain, which was the shape of a group of mermaids. The crowd fell uneasily silent.

"Did it stop?" Rian wondered. He rushed out with Pluto and opened the door to see the ship had frozen in the air. "Uwaah!"

The crowd gasped as well. Taylor and Talen couldn't believe what they saw.

"Rian! What are you doing?" Taylor exclaimed, before staring at the ship, "Is that a Gummi ship?!"

"Well, well, well, Rivers! Way to crash a party with such an entry show like this!" Talen looked impressed, "And I've been expecting you!"

"You've been expecting me?" Rian sounded surprised.

"And we've been expecting _all_ of you." a dark, evil voice took over the atmosphere, like it was a god speaking. Everyone looked up, struck in fear.

"Who said that?" Talen shouted, fists clenched.

Two pairs of paws suddenly crashed on the plaza, causing a fissure on the ground and in the air. The Gummi ship pierced through the fountain and crashed on the ground, and the crowd quickly spread out in grave panic. The Neo-Behemoth had made its entrance and it let out a sky-ripping howl.

"Greetings, fellow Keybearers." Tidicus said in a delicate pose, "My, are we having a birthday bash? Oh shucks. I'm so sorry for crashing it! And I sure hope it's _my_ birthday bash."

"Oh, it's a birthday bash all right. And believe me, it is so worth crashing it!" Ivy said before flipping her hair.

The Neo Behemoth roared on cue. Talen stared at the menace before him with utter amazement.

"Oh…my…GOSH!!" Talen beamed before facing Rian and Taylor, "Would you look at this beauty?! Whenever that game goes high-def, I'm still in shock!"

Taylor and Rian looked surprised. Tidicus and Ivy simply raised their eyebrow. Talen still thought that this was a game when he clearly was unaware of what was _really_ happening here.

"For a 3D monster that Behemoth looked so real, I almost bowled over…" Talen said.

"Dude!" Rian snapped, "Get real! That's no 3D monster! That's a REAL monster!"

"Your friend Johnny's right" Tidicus beamed, "And you are battling real people with real weapons and real monsters." He sounded like he was talking to a baby.

Talen turned to stare at Rian in shock, "Johnny?" he repeated, "As in Johnny Boy?"

"And you have something that belongs to us, Blazen!" Ivy said, pointing her finger at Talen, to Rian and Taylor's surprises.

"Blazen?" they both exclaimed.

"Your heart." Ivy said and on cue the Neo-Behemoth raised his two front paws up, and landed them to the ground in an earth-shattering crash. The impact tore the ground off and caused rocks to pull from the ground, heading straight for the teens. The teens dodged.

"They can't be serious!" Rian shouted at Talen, "You can't be Blazen!"

The Neo Behemoth struck another fissure attack again. The teens dodged another blow.

"But then again that'll explain your arrogance in-game and in-life!" Rian added.

"Damn it, would you shut up and fight this thing, Johnny Boy?!" Talen exclaimed.

"It's Thunder!" Rian corrected.

The Neo-Behemoth attacked again with another fissure. The teens dodged once more. Talen pulled out his WiFi controller by magic again and pushed the sync button but nothing happened.

"Talen! It's not a game! It's real!" Taylor reminded him.

"Well, then if it's real, then how come I can't—!"

The Behemoth struck Talen with its tail, sending him flying through the broken fountain to a far wall. The Neo-Behemoth swooshed near Talen and scooped him with its tail, binding him tightly.

"WHOAAAAH!!" Talen screamed.

"Talen!" Rian and Taylor couldn't help but to watch Talen trying to break free from the Behemoth's tail clutch. The duo came together and summoned their Keyblades, facing the Neo-Behemoth and the Blackhearts duo.

"You two better release Talen, NOW!" Rian shouted.

"We won't leave until we get what we came for!" Ivy hissed.

Taylor faced Rian, "Rian!" she said, "The only way we can free Talen from this monster is if we transform into our Keybearers!"

"Good idea!" Rian said eagerly, but then hesitated, "Do you know how to transform?"

Taylor shook her head, "I dunno! Do you?"

"No!" Rian said.

"Then how did we become Johnny and Soledad before?!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Err… guys?" Talen tried to catch their attention but they weren't listening.

"How should I know?!" Rian continued, "All I know is that I become my alter-ego whenever I enter Radiant Kingdom!"

"ONLY when you enter Radiant Kingdom?!" Taylor angrily corrected.

"And I prefer being called Thunder!" Rian corrected back, "It's like way catchy?"

"Ohh, boohoo! No one's got the time to hear how you transform or not!" Tidicus whined, "You either lose, or you beat it? We got a heart to—!"

Taylor cut Tidicus off, "Hey, this is important!" she said.

"Talen! Please tell me you know how to transform!" Rian asked.

Talen, who was trying to withstand the pain he was in, turned sarcastic, "oh, I dunno. I guess I can do that only in the game! OH, wait! Last time I checked, that ain't a game! It's real! And you're delusional!"

"THAT'S IT!" Ivy screamed, finally catching the Keybearers' attention, "I can't take this anymore of that whiny blah! Neo-Behemoth! FINISH THEM!"

The Neo-Behemoth roared, raising his large tail up and descended it toward Rian and Taylor, screaming for their lives.

A Thunder jolt came from above and struck the Neo-Behemoth's tail. The beast yelped in pain and released Talen. Rian and Taylor went to him.

"You're okay, man?" Rian asked.

"What was that?" Taylor wondered.

All attention turned to the spellcaster: Donald. The angry duck was floating in midair, sitting on his staff which Goofy was dangling on. Goofy waved happily at the sight of the Keybearers, "Hiya Johnny!"

"The King's henchmen!" Tidicus clenched a fist.

"Oh, Donald. Goofy." Rian nervously chuckled. Taylor and Talen however were too stunned to speak. They couldn't believe they were seeing Donald and Goofy living and breathing before them.

"I guess I should owe you an apology." Rian grinned.

"Save the excuse for later, outlaw!" Donald jumped off his staff once the duo reached the plaza, and raised his arm. On cue, his staff went to his grasp, letting Goofy fall on the ground.

"Right now we have to get out of here! Behemoths can reflect magic with its own powerful kind!" Donald warned.

"Oh, that's right we totally forgot!" Tidicus said sarcastically, put a fist on his palm, "Behemoth will be unleashing his all powerful Meteor attack whenever you cast a spell on it!"

"So it's over for you now!" Ivy cackled and Tidicus followed. The Neo-Behemoth stood on its two hind legs, raised its chin up and roared. Suddenly the sky turned red and small sparks of flames started falling. The teens, Donald and Goofy then watched a giant meteor pulling from the sky and slowly heading toward them. The gang screamed and everything turned white.

The white screen quickly cleared up and everyone saw nothing happened. They turned to see Terra amongst them, his hand raised up, a dark swirly void hovering over his palm. The void slowly disappeared in darkness.

"The Keyblade Knight again!" Ivy sounded pissed.

Terra summoned his Keyblade, and with his other hand up, a ball of light shone above its palm, forming into an Ability Card. He tossed the card to Rian.

"Place this card on your Keyblade." Terra told him, "But do this only when I tell you to!"

He then faced the Behemoth and shouted, "Thunder Jet Mode!" with his fists clenched, he struck a pose, and light struck his body. Terra was suddenly covered in electricity sparks. He charged up his Keyblade, to Donald's panic.

"Terra, wait! Don't! Behemoth are dangerous when you cast spells on them!" he exclaimed.

Terra didn't listen. He raised his Keyblade and struck a Thundaja spell on the Neo-Behemoth, knocking Tidicus and Ivy off the creature as a result. The Neo-Behemoth turned livid.

"Aw man! You really did it this time!" Taylor stuttered as the Behemoth stood on its hind legs again and it started raining sparks of flames once more.

Tidicus and Ivy laughed together when they saw a Meteor twice as large as the latter descending.

"You've just made a big mistake Keyblade Knight!" Tidicus said.

"Your dancing days are over now boys and girls!" Ivy cackled.

Terra faced Rian, "NOW!" he shouted.

Rian hesitated for a second, then quickly placed the Ability Card on the Keyblade. The card dissolved into the weapon and it glow a translucent glass color. Rian faced the Meteor and raised the Keyblade up in an attempt to block it. The Meteor closed in on the heroes. It was as if they were done for at any second.

Then it suddenly stopped budging. The Meteor felt like it had hit some invisible wall, blocking its path to crush its victims. It tried to get past it, but the invisible wall fought back, bouncing the Meteor off it with ease. The Meteor directed its attention toward the Neo-Behemoth and the two Blackhearts and went straight for them.

Tidicus and Ivy hugged tightly, screaming for their lives was gonna end fast. The Meteor struck the Neo-Behemoth with an impact strong enough to shake the air and the ground, and slowly dug itself into the screaming monster. Everything turned white and cleared up again, leaving only a large black stain the size of a star-shaped hole in the middle of the plaza. Everyone looked around. No Behemoth. No blackhearts. Nothing.

"Is it gone?" Talen wondered, his heart almost gave in.

"It's gone." Terra said indifferently.

"Johnny 'Thunder' Keyblade!" Donald barked, angrily approaching Rian, "HOW DARE YOU!"

"Donald! Donald Duck! How are you? Hey!" Rian saw Donald approaching him and started backing up, "I know you're angry, so how about we make this simple and talk this out over Lunch huh? Are you free next Thursday? If so, what time should I be in? Oh wait! I'm totally booked next Thursday. So how about next Friday? My schedule is free!"

"How about I serve you lunch RIGHT NOW for damagin' my ship?!" Donald formed a fist, and Rian started to run. Donald gave chase, "You like a knuckle sandwich?! It's today's SPECIAL!!"

Talen faced Terra, "Yo, you! While them two lunatoons are going at it, care to gimme a holler on what's up around here?"

Terra shook his head, "This is no place to be talking business." He then faced the Gummi Ship that barely had a scratch on its front before facing Talen and Taylor again, "The Gummi Ship should be it. Let's go."

With a snap of the finger, Terra disappeared in a glowing light along with the entire gang and the ship. Sierra and Pierre arrived just in time to see it happen, and also took noticed of the massive stain and broken fountain left by the battle.

"Whoa." Pierre uttered, "Did this party just got bad in a hurry, or is it just me?"

Sierra narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "It's not you Pierre." She said, "Something fishy just happened, I sensed it. Something big."

She then faced Pierre, "Pierre," she begun, "We're gonna have to find out what happened right here, right now."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Next Chapter**:: _Free-Spirited Axel_

* * *


	6. Ep4: Free Spirited Axel

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**Free**-**Spirited Axel**-**_

* * *

Rian, Taylor, and Talen were on board the Gummi Ship alongside Donald, Goofy, a sleeping Pluto, and Terra. The Keyblade Knight turned to face the KH players.

"Since there's a few of you Keybearers in the Gummi Ship, I believe it's time we tell you what's going on in the Kingdom Hearts Universe." Terra began, "The Kingdom Hearts universe is a _real_ universe, not what you called _Kingdom Hearts 3 Online HD, _your video game. Whether you like it or not, this universe _does_ exist."

"Man," Talen sounded surprised but convinced, "and I thought virtual worlds had gone high-def!"

"Upon making contact with the game, not only you have access to the _Kingdom Hearts_ universe, but you are now taking the role of Keybearers, Defenders of the Realm of Light wielding powerful weapons known as the Keyblade. With Rian Rivers as Johnny 'Thunder' Keyblade, Taylor Mora as Soledad, and Talen Brightfire as Blazen to name a few."

Rian then faced Talen, "I still can't believe _you're_ the Blazen!" he pouted.

Talen smirked, "I find it hard to believe, that _you_ find it hard to believe."

"Counting you three," Terra went on, "there's a total of twelve Keybearers all across this vast universe. And all of them are completely unaware of the situation that they put themselves into." He then looked deep into the three teens' eyes, "Just because you are Keybearers, doesn't mean you are safe from evil. And this Evil is in the form of twelve entities known as the Blackheart Dominion. They are hunting you down as we speak, searching for a way to capture your-!"

"...I know, I know. Our hearts of Pure Bravery." Rian said, before letting out a sigh.

"This is no joke." Terra said sincerely, "If they steal your Hearts, any Hearts, they'll have the power to dominate Kingdom Hearts, and the world."

"You told me that when you rescued me from those heartless." Rian said, "Well, except for that last part."

"But we didn't know all of that!" Taylor confessed.

"So if I understand this well, that Behemoth we encountered at my Sweet-16 party _was_ real?" Talen exclaimed, "And so were those Blackhearts couple? And they were out to get me?"

Everyone nodded.

"Man," Talen breathed, "and I thought my machine was virtually turned on!"

Terra then faced Rian, "Johnny. Remember that Ability Card I gave you? It comes from your Ability Deck. It's a set of Ability cards necessary to use magic and cast spells."

Terra tossed out a piece of magic to Rian. Rian grasped it and the magic materialized into his Ability Deck. Rian examined it in awe.

"When combined with your Keyblade, they are forces to be reckoned with." Terra explained, "Additionally when they reach their Mastery Level, you'll be able to unlock new powerful Modes that'll outmatch your enemies." Terra then faced Talen and Taylor, "The same goes for you two."

Talen and Taylor pulled out their Ability Deck by magic and admired them in awe as well, "Whoa..." they said in unison.

"It is now your duty, Keybearers, to gather the rest of your comrades and beat the Dominion at their own game." Terra said, before facing Donald and Goofy, "We, however, have a mission of our own, and that is to find the King."

"We?" Donald raised an eyebrow, "The last time you helped us out was... when? I don't know... NEVER!"

"I promise I will help you out this time." Terra replied, "But don't expect me to be here for you two all the time." He then faced the Keybearers, "Same goes for you too, Keybearers."

Terra then started to disappear. "HEY! You're not going any-!" Donald jumped to where Terra was standing, hoping to catch him, but instead fell on his face.

"Wait a second, counting you two." Rian pointed at Taylor and Talen, "There might be a bunch of others _Kingdom Hearts_ players willing to lend us a hand! After all, they are Keybearers too!"

"You're right!" Taylor said, "My boyfriend Matt's into this game also! He might help us out! Here, lemme call him! I hope he's not too busy at work again."

Taylor pulled out her cellphone and was ready to dial a number when she started hearing noises. She wasn't the only one. The gang also heard noises, coming from the ceiling and sounding like whispers.

Donald pulled out his face that was glued on the floor, and tried to get up as he was grumbling, "If ever I find that Keyblade Knight who thinks he's all-that-!"

"Uhh, Donald?" Goofy tried to warn his pal as he noticed the ceiling releasing some dusts right above the duck.

"What?" Donald snapped.

The ceiling crashed, and two bodies fell right on top of Donald, splatting him to the ground again.

"Is that Sierra and Pierre?" Rian recognized the two individuals who just crashed in. The three teens looked nervous. How do these young pair got into the ship was the least of their problem. Explaining the entire situation to them (about the KH players being real Keybearers traveling worlds to defeat evil) was going to be hell!

Taylor went to help them out.

"Oww..." Sierra groaned in pain.

Pierre grinned nervously at the gang and waved, "H-hi... remember me? ... or am I talking to stars again?"

"What are you two doing here?" Taylor shouted. She then hesitated, "...in your dreams? When you're supposed to be... err... asleep..."

Sierra and Pierre looked confused. Rian and Talen didn't get it either. So did Donald and Goofy.

"Smooth." Talen said to Taylor.

Sierra and Pierre looked around, in awe of what they were seeing.

"Whoa! What a sweet ride, dude!" Pierre raved before facing Talen, "Is that ship your birthday present or something?"

Talen hesitated, "Uhh..." He then faced the gang briefly, before pulling out a mischievous smile, "Yes. As a matter of fact, it's _my_ birthday present." He said.

"HEYY!" The gang yelled out, especially Donald, all appalled at that lie.

"Talen! What are you doing? We can't lie to them!" Taylor yelped. Sierra and Pierre turned more confused.

"Could you let me have my moment?" Talen argued.

"Guys." Rian approached Sierra and Pierre, "I know it's gonna sound crazy, but I want you to hear me out." He then sighed before saying, "You are in the Kingdom Hearts universe from the game _Kingdom Hearts 3 Online HD_, and you all possess the power to become your Keybearers alter-ego from the game."

"HEYY! What are you doing?!" Talen screamed.

"There's more..." Rian ignored Talen's cry, and went on explaining to the duo everything he learned so far: the game, the KH players/Keybearers, the Hearts of Pure Bravery, everything, in a good quick-run summary. That left Sierra and Pierre jaws-dropped, and Rian relieved.

Taylor then swooped in, "It's hard to believe the whole story, guys, but it's true!" she said, "I mean, you all saw that Behemoth back at the square, right? And, you all saw this ship, right? And-!"

"Hard to believe?" Sierra interrupted, a smile broadened on her face, "WE _LOVE_ KINGDOM HEARTS!"

"Huh?" The three teens exclaimed.

Pierre and Sierra pulled out KH collectibles: cards, keychains, posters, books, artworks, everything!

"We happen to be HUGE fans ourselves!" Pierre confessed, "So you don't have to worry about us telling the entire school about it, 'cuz trust us we ain't gonna!"

"That and because, we're coming with you too on the ship!" Sierra proposed.

Pierre hesitated, "Really?" he asked questionably, "We are? Err... I dunno about you Sierra, but is that wise?"

"Sweetie! Going on a Kingdom Hearts adventure sounds like total fun!" Sierra replied with a persuasive smile, "It's totally wise! Heck, it's totally radical!"

"Cool!" Pierre grinned.

Rian and Taylor felt relieved once more. Talen was still moody, because his lie didn't pay off.

"Sweet!" Rian responded with a smile, "So, there it is!"

"And, oh my gosh!" Sierra approached Donald and Goofy, ecstatic to see them in person as if she was meeting celebrities for the first time, "Do you know who you are?!"

Donald and Goofy shook their heads as they stepped back.

"You are Donald and Goofy! Eeep!" Sierra squealed, "If this is real, then I don't wanna wake up!! COME HERE Y'ALL!"

She pulled Donald and Goofy into a tight group hug, "You two are like my biggest idols EVER!"

"Ack... Stop! Stohhp!" Donald suffocated while Goofy laughed alongside Sierra.

"So, if I understand this well, that Behemoth was real?" Pierre asked the trio.

The three friends nodded. Pierre shuddered, "Totally rad, man! And here I thought this was one of those party holographic tricks!"

"And I thought it was a game," Talen sighed, "but turns out it ain't."

The Gummi Ship entered an enemy-infested area of space, and Donald and Goofy noticed some enemy targets, waiting to strike.

"Uh-oh. We got company." Goofy warned.

Donald faced the Keybearers, "We've entered enemy territory. I hope you are all prepared? Do you know how to transform?"

The three teens knew the answer to that question by simply staring at each other and shrugging with clueless and uninformed look on their faces. Donald and Goofy looked surprised.

"You don't know how to transform?!" Donald exclaimed.

"Gawrsh! That is grave news!" Goofy said.

"HEY!" Talen pointed the finger in protest, "You never taught us how to transform anyway! And besides I'm new at this thing!"

"Right, I never taught you that stuff, because we were too busy trying to train Johnny in the Keyblade Arts, but nooo... he had to ditch and join your trashy party!" Donald's face flushed red, glaring straight at Rian.

Rian muttered to Taylor, "Told you I was an outlaw."

"Not funny, boy!" Donald angrily pointed at Rian.

"So if we can't transform, then how can we fight these heartless ships?" Sierra asked, noticing the number of enemies' fleet approaching the Gummi Ship.

The ship then made a rocking sound when it felt a blast on its side. The heroes held on to something near them.

"At least you can use your Keyblade right?" Donald asked sarcastically, "Cuz if you don't-!"

"We know how to use our Keyblade, Donald. We're not stupid." Rian complained, "Just tell us what to do, man."

Donald looked at Goofy, and Goofy immediately knew that look was a signal. He pointed up in the air, declaring, "To the Ship's Deck!"

"Ship's Deck?!" the teens exclaimed.

* * *

The teens were on top of the ship, facing the enemies heartless.

"You've GOT to be kiddin' me." Talen exclaimed.

"What are we suppose to do here, man?" Rian exclaimed.

"Fight them!" Donald said.

"FIGHT THEM?!" The teens screamed, and right on cue a leader Heartless Ship faced the gang, its nose opened up like jaws, and roared on cue.

"Good luck fellas!" Goofy said as he and Donald ran back into the ship, letting the teens vulnerable to the menaces in front of them.

"What do we do?" Sierra screamed, shaking Taylor silly, "WHAT DO WE DOOO?!!"

"How should I know?" Taylor screamed back.

"Here's an idea, dudes! Jump!" Pierre exclaimed.

"WHAT?"

The giant heartless shot a beam from out of his jaws, the beam crashing hard on the deck. The teens dodged out of the way, nearly got hit.

"I got this!" Rian ran toward the heartless ship army, pointed his Keyblade and started shooting at the heartless like a gun. One by one, they were being destroyed.

"Good idea man! Let's do this!" Taylor said, before joining Rian. She pulled out her Fire Ability Card and inserted on her Keyblade, before shooting Fire spells at the emerging army. Soon enough, everyone joined in: Sierra shoot out Water Spells at the enemies, Pierre casted Zero Gravira on them, making them vulnerable and helpless, and Talen delivered with strong blast of Fira Spells. But the army just kept growing, and the gang's Abilities Cards were losing energy fast.

"We're not gonna make it!" Sierra screamed.

"Let me try this!" Pierre stepped in, inserted a Magnet Ability Card on his Keyblade and raised it up, "Magnet!"

"NOOO!" the gang screamed.

A powerful surge of energy pulled up more enemies to the ship, including asteroids. One asteroid nailed Pierre in the face, knocking him unconscious.

"There too much now!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Nice try, doofus!" Talen said to Pierre.

Just as the leading Heartless Ship was about to pull up another beam, a barrage of beams swooshed past the teens from right out of the blue, and pierced the ship through its mouth all the way out, causing a massive explosion that lit up the galaxy. The rest of the heartless army surged toward whatever that had attacked its leader.

The teens turned around to watch a massive Gatling Gun hovered by a combat helicopter flying above the Gummi Ship Deck, and blasting away more enemies heartless. The teens looked in awe at someone piloting the Copter. The Copter looked strangely designed. As if it was formed from a Keyblade!

"Another Keybearer?" Rian gasped.

"Heyy!" shouted a young lively teen voice from the copter, "Are you guys okay in there?"

"We're fine!" Taylor shouted back.

A massive Hunter-X ship hovered right above the Copter that just saved the teens, clanked its claws on the Copter and whisked the Copter away from the teens.

"WHOOAAAAH!" the teen is heard screaming inside.

"We gotta help him!" Sierra said.

"I got this!" Pierre was about to cast another Magnet Spell, but Talen stopped him, "Don't even think about it!"

"Wait, what's he doing?" Rian said, witnessing something. The teens watched the Copter twirling around by itself until the Hunter-X let go of the Copter, completely powerless. The Copter then swooped in to face the enemy and barraged it with some missiles until destroyed.

"He did it!" Sierra squealed happily and the teens cheered. The enemies troops were no more as the Gummi Ship finally entered a portal to a new world, at the same time, welcoming a new addition.

The gang were back inside the Gummi Ship,

"Wow..." Sierra sighed dreamily at the new Keybearer, "You were awfully brave out there. And when your Keyblade went Copter Mode... Ooh..."

Pierre looked at his girlfriend warily. He then chuckled, "Err... Sierra? Jealous boyfriend here?"

"I don't mean to be a jerk, but..." Rian then glared coldly at the new Keybearer who was sporting a dark robe similar to Org XI with a black tee underneath, dark-blue cargo pants and Nike shoes.

"Who the heck are you?"

The Keybearer only muster a smile. He formed fists and stretched. A powerful orb of light took over his entire body and shattered into million bits. The Keybearer had returned to his KH player alter-ego. He was no longer sporting the robe and dark outfit. He wore a white t-shirt with a _Dissidia Final Fantasy_ logo on it, but still maintained the cargo pants. The Nike shoes matched his white shirt which was black earlier when he was in his Keybearer's form.

"Glad you asked, my man!" the new KH player sounded cheerful and comical... like Rian! "Name's Axel, but the guy who just helped you out there, is my man Sharx! Cool huh? We share the same soul bro! Put it there!" he offered Rian a handshake.

Rian stared at it suspiciously. There was something weird about that guy. But then again, he accepted the handshake, "Suuure."

"Hey, how'd you do that?" Taylor asked, "That turning back to your old-self trick. Usually, we turn back to our old self when we exit a world."

Axel threw his hand in dismissal, "Oh that's easy. You just close your eyes and believe that you're that guy. In my case when I turn back, I believe I am me again. Here, you should try it! It's cool!"

"So you're saying that I can turn myself into my Keybearer alter-ego Ciel?" Sierra asked interestingly, "Here and now?"

"Whoa." Axel looked surprised, "you guys didn't know?" Axel then broke the fourth wall, "Since when does KH players don't know how to transform?"

Donald crossed his arms, "Of course they didn't." he pouted, "They were too busy getting down at some party. And _WHO are you _talking to?" he looked around.

Axel shrugged.

Sierra finally clenched her fists and stretched. A powerful orb of light suddenly struck her body and shattered into million bits. Sierra was no longer Sierra. She sported an ivory armor with blue highlights on it, a translucent cape, skinny pants and boots of the same color. The gang looked stunned at Sierra's transformation. Sierra (or more preferably Ciel) was stunned at her new appearance as well.

"I'm Ciel!" she said, striking a pose.

"Whoa, girl! You look like _Sailor Moon _and_ Chun-Li _all mixed-up together!" Axel couldn't get his eyes off her.

Pierre nervously chuckled, "Whoa, buddy?" he grinned at Axel, "That's my girlfriend you're talking to."

"My bad, bro."

Ciel admired her outfit at a nearby mirror, "Ohh. My. Gosh. I look _fabulous_! Thanks, Axel!"

"No, thank _you_." Axel mumbled, before clearing his throat, "I mean, yeah sure!"

Everyone got excited and wanted to try out their newfound powers, all thanks to new KH player Axel. Rian was the only one pouting. Talen, Donald and Goofy noticed him and approached him.

"Ooh, somebody got himself a new rival." Talen said with a gloating expression, "And it ain't me no more. Ha!"

Rian frowned, "Shut up."

"Uhh, something's on your mind, Rian?" Goofy asked.

"There's something weird about that guy." Rian whispered, "He's too happy. He's too... cheerful. He's too... weird. He reminds me of someone..."

"Uhh... you?" Talen reminded Rian.

Rian threw a hand in dismissal, "No that's not it."

* * *

Later that night (or we don't know if it's night since the gang were still traveling in space), but all we know is that everyone was sleeping at that late time. Everyone except Donald, who was trying to study some of the lost Ansem Reports. He finally gave up.

"Ah, phooey." he flustered, "Why am I wasting time readin' this again anyway?"

"Can't sleep, Donald?" a squeaky voice distracted him from the reports. The duck saw Chip and Dale looking at him with concern in their eyes.

"Oh, it's you." he said dully, before laying his head between his folded arms. He felt too tired. He then waved his hands to them in dismissal, "Could ya go bother someone else, chipmunks?"

"We can't sleep either if you're asking us!" said Dale, before quickly protesting, "Well, _I_ can sleep! But Chip here can't!"

"This is an urgent matter from Terra, Dale!" Chip told Dale, "Why do you think I can't sleep? This news is eating me up inside!"

What Chip said about Terra caught Donald's full-attention, "Terra?"

"Well, yeah!" Chip replied, "He wrote you all a letter about--!"

Donald snatched the sealed envelope from Chip's tiny hands and examined its seal. It was the Keyblade Knight's seal, meaning it truly belonged to Terra. He tore off the envelope and pulled out the letter to read.

"Well, go ahead and read it, but whatever you do, don't--!" Chip was cut off.

Donald hushed him, focused on the letter. His eyes peered through Terra's writing and after a brief period blinked again.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??!"

* * *

Terra was over at Sunset Horizons, staring at the sunset that never slipped out and watched the flowing ocean swooshing back and forth, almost reaching his feet at every twenty seconds.

"Terra. Is this true?"

Terra heard Donald, but didn't bother to look at him or respond.

"Terra?" Donald cried again, tears ready to escape his large eyes, "Tell me the truth! Is this true?"

It took Terra a good long pause before he quietly responded, "Yes... it's true."

"You're lying!" Donald screamed, "What you said in the letter is not true! YOU'RE LYING!"

Donald scooped up a stone and angrily threw it at Terra's head. The duck finally fell on the soft sand, too tired of screaming and ranting, too heartrending to even think about it.

Terra just stood still. He understood how Donald felt from the tone of his voice and he hated this. He hated disclosing to the Court Wizard this dreadful news and he hated the reaction he just got. He wished he could take it all back, but there was nothing he could do about this. He could hear Donald's quiet sob five feet apart from where they were standing.

"I know you're hurting." Terra said, still not facing a sniffling Donald, "It pains me too."

"Yeah?" Donald's voice broke, "how? You never met him."

"I did." Terra disclosed, "Once... maybe twice." He then added after another long pause, "I don't remember how but... what I know is that I too share a deep connection to him."

"What about Goofy? How come you never told him that?"

"I did." Terra disclosed, "He too, took the news pretty hard."

Donald looked a bit surprised. How did Goofy knew and not tell him about it? He then recalled seeing Goofy strangely acting more cheerful than ever before; like he was trying to hide something from Donald. But he had always assumed that Goofy was made that way: goofy and comical. He should have been more suspicious.

"He wanted to tell you," Terra paused, "But I couldn't let you two grieve at the same time."

Terra went on, "I know you and Goofy are the best of friends and never keep secrets from each other. But I had to do, what I had to do. I had to wait for the right moment to disclose to you this news, separately."

There was the silence again.

"You should go." Terra said, "Leave this dream, and look after those kids. Like the King said, these twelve warriors are our only hope. Don't lose sight of them. He would want that."

Donald stood up from the sand, and quietly walked away, hesitant of leaving Terra for he had more questions about this torment. More he wanted to find out. More he wanted to be disclosed. But he knew, that time will soon tell.

"Be careful." Said Terra to Donald, before the dream faded from the wizard's eyes

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**Next Chapter**:: _Days of Modern Day Keybearers_

* * *


	7. Ep5: Days of Modern Day Keybearers

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**Days of Modern Day Keybearers**-**_

* * *

Here, in the days of the lives of these Modern Day Keybearers, we'll be talking about our teenage heroes as their regular lives and their undying passions for the Kingdom Hearts III Online HD game will head down a crucial conflict with one another. Think of it as a Medieval person trying to fit in, or a dog trying to be a cat, a monster trying to be a kitty.

Yes, everyone wants to fit in. And that shouldn't be too difficult for our heroes since they know pretty much how to do it at school or at home or wherever...

The Gummi Ship was quietly hovering above a massive body of seawater, passing by clouds on their way to their next destination.

"Goofy!"

Donald's cry jerked Goofy from his quiet nap at the Gummi Ship Atrium by a marble fountain.

"We gotta train these Keybearers the ways of the Keyblade, just in time for them to go on their first mission!" Donald then looked around, "Where are they?"

"Uhh... I dunno." Goofy hesitated, scratching his head, "last time I remember they say they were-!"

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!!"

The teens' cry echoed through the ship.

"LATE! LATE! LATE! LATE!" they were crying as they rushed past Donald and Goofy in a mad dash, all trying to dress up and fix breakfast at the same time.

"Can't believe we overslept!" Taylor whined.

"This is all your fault, you know?" Talen barked at Rian, blaming him for whatever he did as he was putting on clean pants.

"My fault?" Rian yelled back defensively as he quickly slipped on a clean shirt, "How am I supposed to know if I set the alarm clock right?"

"When the 6 o'clock is at AM and NOT PM!" Talen yelled back.

"Uhh... what are you late for exactly?" Goofy asked the teens.

"School." Axel replied, "We're teens, so we gotta go to school."

"It's part of life!" Taylor explained.

"Your adventures are a big part of life too!" Donald explained, stopping the teens from heading toward the exit with their cheese bagels and some sausages handing on their mouth. "You as Keybearers are committed to that 24/7."

"Gawrsh. 24/7. That's a lot." Goofy thought.

"You'll go on missions, side quests, requests, and behests all across the KH universe!" Donald explained.

"MISSIONS AND SIDEQUESTS!" the teens exclaimed.

"Finding the King is a mission too." Goofy implied.

"But we thought our only mission was to defeat the Blackhearts Dominion by recruiting more Keybearers." Rian looked more confused, and so were his friends.

"And how are you going to do that in one day?" Donald queried. The teens stood there speechless, unknowingly able to answer that.

"...this is why Goofy and I are going to teach you all the ways of being a Keybearer." Donald said, "You, as Keybearers, are committed to an eternal life of defending the Realm of Light and the Heart of all Worlds-!"

"24/7" the teens said in unison, "we know!"

"You better...and thousand of hearts are at stake here, including your owns! So, as for now, no school for you!"

The teens' jaws dropped. But then Donald added, "At least till your training's over."

They couldn't believe what they just heard. Not going to school almost sounded like a punishment than an excuse.

"Now let's get this training started shall we?" Donald said before waving his staff around the Atrium and suddenly flying furniture started materializing, surrounding the Keybearers.

"Let us start with the basics of Furniture Smashin'!" Donald lectured, "Smash as much furniture as you can to score big! Remember the bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Large armoires charged toward the unprepared teens. They dodged in the nick of time. One broom swept Rian off his feet. Rian screamed in panic as the broom took him high into the sky. Taylor transformed into Soledad, and shot Fire from her Keyblade, scorching the broom into dust. Rian fell right onto Pierre's arms.

"Put me down!" Rian exclaimed and Pierre put him down quickly, "Sorry." He said before a futon went flying toward him and knocked him out. Rian quickly transformed into Johnny in reaction, and soon all six teenagers transformed into their Keybearers counterparts and started attacking the flying furniture.

"Let's kick it up a notch!" Donald then waved his staff around and holographic Neoshadows formed alongside new furniture, some even came out of flying armoires, and they all surrounded the heroes.

"Do you have what it takes to show your worth?" Donald sounded like an evil duck right there.

The Keybearers turned nervous at the number. Blazen got taunted by Neoshadow hiding inside flying teapots. He smashed the teapots and the Neoshadows escaped to spook him from behind. Before he knew it, Neoshadows were at his tail.

"Wait a minute!" he screamed, as he tried to dodge and counter the number of Neoshadows that were attacking him, "Twelve against one?" he counted, "That's cheatin'!"

He then felt a kick on his head, knocking him to the ground.

"Actually, make that thirteen." Donald corrected.

The Keybearers looked around and got no sight of Donald or Goofy. They were all alone, and they could hear Donald everywhere like a god speaking. Suddenly they saw a large glass baking pan flying toward Pierre, Sierra and Axel (as their Keybearers alter-ego Stone, Ciel, and Sharx). The three teens dodged and watched the pan knocking out a bird that was passing by from a distance.

"Donald, please! You're going to kill us!" Ciel begged.

"What are you talking about? Training is just getting started." Donald said from out of nowhere.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Ciel screamed as the Keybearers suddenly found themselves on a narrow platform, hovering above a sea of skyscrapers surrounded by zigzagged webs of twisted roads and highways; like some sort of a futuristic city.

"Oh, don't mind the view, folks! This is just a digital hologram stage!" Donald explained, "Perfect for the thrill of training!"

"I feel like we've just entered the _Super Smash Brothers Brawl_ stage Aero Dive!" Sharx referred.

"You think?" Blazen exclaimed

The Keybearers saw flying cars zooming toward them, as if ready to collide on them, or each other. They screamed.

"I got this!" Johnny Thunder swung his Keyblade countless times, countering the cars from running on him and his friends. The Keybearers joined the cause. Thunder, Ciel, Stone, and Soledad teamed up to cast their best Reflect attack, bouncing away the cars, while Sharx and Blazen teamed up to deliver a combined Chain Lightning with Fira Spells, striking and burning multiple cars in one massive blow.

The platform suddenly started moving, and zoomed up into the sky at an incredible high speed, causing the Keybearers to feel unstable.

"What's going on now?!" Stone asked, "We're moving!"

"I dunno about you guys, but I feel like puking!" Ciel whimpered.

The platform suddenly left the city, to hover above a narrow city bridge with a bunch of traffic over a mass body of water. Soledad's eyes boggled.

"Donald?! Is that water?" Soledad sounded like screaming.

"Of course it's water." Donald sounded comical there, "It's the same water you drink everyday! Except for the salty part. What's wrong with it?"

"What's WRONG with it is that it's the SAME TYPE OF WATER THAT I ALMOST DROWNED ON A LONG TIME AGO!" Soledad screamed so hard, her throat felt like cracking.

"Taylor, you're shakin!" Ciel noticed her friend trembling.

"UH, YOU THINK?!" Soledad replied.

"Whoa!" Thunder freaked out upon noticing the platform disappearing from the teens' feet, "Where's the platform?"

The teens shrieked when they saw no platform on their feet. They felt like flying above the body of water and the many twisted bridges. They suddenly saw flying Neoshadows hovering right besides them, carrying lances and taunting them to attack or else they will be attacked.

"Nothin' to worry about folks!" Donald sounded evilly cheerful. "Just let your Keyblades and your Hearts get the work done!"

"You mean let our nervous stomachs get the work done?!" Sharx exclaimed.

"No freaking way I'm losin'!" Blazen said before turning his Keyblade red, "Fira!"

"Wait, whoa! What are you doing?" Thunder extended his hands toward Blazen trying to stop him but then just like that a Thunder Spell shot at random from his fingertips and struck some Neoshadows, and almost struck the gang. "UUWAAA!" The gang edgily screamed and Ciel tripped and grabbed on the invisible platform by luck. The Keybearers panicked.

"What are YOU doing? You almost shocked us!" Soledad snapped at Thunder.

"Here's something to be shocked by." Donald said, and before the Keybearers knew it, they no longer felt the platform. They just fell.

UUUUUWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

* * *

Five hours later...

A traumatized Taylor was shaking as if cold. She was on a chair and rocking back and forth on it as Sierra tried to console her. The rest of the teens looked exhausted and too freaked out by the experience.

"Well, that's it for our five-hour training session!" Donald announced, "Let's take a five-minute break."

The gang turned to stare at Donald in shock, like "he said what now?"

"Uh...Donald?" Goofy whispered to him, "Are you sure?"

"Aw, come on Goofy! This is fun!" Donald said happily, before facing the Keybearers, "Rest up now. It's gonna be a short break... with some food!"

Donald then faced the kitchen at the corner of the Ship Atrium, and pointed with his staff to conjure up a dish of delicious mashed potatoes with gravy, a bowl of grilled fishes, chickens, fries, burgers, and milkshakes with lemon éclairs for dessert. The teens stared at the lunch feast, drooling.

"Enjoy now while you can." Donald walked away and Goofy followed him.

Sierra glared at her friends, "_Five_ minutes?"

"Five _hours_?" Talen exclaimed.

"Next thing you know he's gonna said five days." Axel commented as he was chewing on a piece of crispy chicken.

"Don't forget we're gonna be doing this for five days!" sounded Donald, and the Keybearers roared in disappointment. Axel's jaws hanged open.

"You _had _to say that! What is wrong with you?" Talen snapped at Axel.

"I... I..." Axel stammered, "I was just-!"

A fuming Talen did a zip-your-lips signal to Axel and Axel immediately hushed.

"I can't believe we're gonna be doing this for five days! And we aren't gonna be getting no improvement!" Pierre complained, "Remember the ol' saying 'All Work and No Play makes Jack a dumb boy? I'm becoming that Jack! Feel my head!"

Pierre showed his head to the gang for them to feel it. Talen went to feel it, "Oh, I feel it all right." He said, "Hollow." He gave a knock on his forehead as if knocking on a door.

"You think you got problems?" Sierra said to Pierre panicky, "_I_ have problems! It's Homecoming Week for crying out loud, and I've been nominated for the True Beauty Pageant!"

The teens immediately harked back. Homecoming Week is the most important week of all high school teens' lives. For Sierra, it marked the day the most popular girl in school would be nominated by the student body for the True Beauty Pageant during the Homecoming Week for the Homecoming Ball event, where the winner would be crowned Homecoming Queen and would immediately danced with the chosen Homecoming King.

"Oh, that's right! Homecoming Week!" Rian said, reminiscent, "It'll be so cool if we all go!"

The teens all agreed, but then Rian added, "But you know what worries me? Donald." Rian did sound worried, "I don't know if you guys noticed, but something's seriously wrong with him. He's too happy like freaky happy. If we leave, he might have our heads."

"I rather have him have my head than to kill us softly with all those vigorous training." Talen complained, "What's with all of that anyway, to prepare us for the apocalypse?"

"Yo, guys, let's not panic okay?" Axel reassured, "I got a better plan: we sneak out of here to our world, and enjoy our Homecoming moments."

"But how can we get into our world?" Taylor asked, "Wait. You know how to teleport from one place to another, do you?"

Axel summoned his Keyblade, "Like a piece of cake." He pointed his Keyblade out of nowhere, turned and pulled, and a Key-shaped Portal magically appeared in front of the teens.

"Whooaaa..." they gasped.

"Okay seriously? How doyou even _know_ that trick?" Rian complained.

Axel shrugged, "I dunno: discovering new places, uncovering new items, defeating secret monsters, that kind of stuff we do in the game... you should know that, man! Aren't you the best KH player in the game?"

Rian then mumbled in response, shrugging as if he didn't care. He then glared at Axel, "I hate you so much right now."

Axel didn't say anything and he just jumped into the portal. The rest of the KH players jumped in also. Pierre was the last one to jump in when he heard Donald.

"What's going on here?"

Pierre panicked. He faced Donald and Goofy who were approaching, before facing the Keyhole Portal. Instead of entering, he extended his hand to it and the portal vanished into his hand.

"Oh, hi!" Pierre smiled at the toons, "I was just-!"

Donald interrupted, "Oh, I know what you guys were just doing?"

Pierre hesitated, "You do?"

"Yeah!" Donald then pulled out a big smile, "You guys are going on a mission!"

Pierre looked dumbfounded before smiling broadly as well, "YEAH!! That's... what we were doing! Ah! Ah!"

"I can see that you're ready to take on the quest." Donald said proudly.

"Gawrsh! That's so cool!" Goofy cheered also, "Say, should we assist you guys on your mission? Just in case-!"

"Actually!" Pierre quickly interrupted them, "Let us do this. I mean, let us... go on this mission ourselves. It's very important, private mission, dudes! Just one question! What kind of mission is it?"

Donald and Goofy looked dumbstruck.

"By that, I meant, what _world_ are we going on the mission!" Pierre quickly recovered, "Yeah! We-!"

"You guys didn't read the Key Mission sent to you by Terra?" Goofy looked surprised. Pierre hesitated again, trying to choose his right words.

"It was on your Digital Gauntlet." Goofy clarified.

Pierre slapped his head, "Of course! Pshaah! It's was on my digital gauntlet! Now why didn't I think of that?"

Pierre turned on his digital gauntlet and checked out his mail to read the mission. Donald began, "It seems that there's trouble brewing at Dwarf Woodland, home of the dwarves and one of the Princesses of Hearts of Pure Light, Snow White. It appears that Snow White's stepmother the Queen cannot stand her daughter's beauty and is a threat to the princess!"

"We're afraid that the Queen's obsession with beauty will drive her mad enough to join force with the Blackhearts and hire them to do unmerited crimes to the princess and her comrades!" Goofy added.

"So your mission is to protect her"

"And drive the Blackhearts' and their creatures away from her world as soon as possible."

Donald then smiled, "Then after that, you'll be free to head home."

That caught Pierre's attention. "Free?"

"Yeah, at least for a little while." Donald then added, "What? You can't expect us to keep you away from your real lives, can you? That'll make you a dumb boy like Jack! Remember? All work and no play? Ha! Ha!" Donald then started laughing so hard, it prompted Goofy to laugh on cue.

Then Pierre joined in the laughter, but he laughed so hard, his voice quivered in fear, "Right you are! Hey! Hey! Hey! Oawwhh…"

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**Next Chapter**:: _True Beauty_

_**Author's Note= **I've made an artwork dedicated to the fanfic at my deviant art page. It contains your OCs. Check them out from my profile page and tell me what you think and let me know if you want any changes.  
_

* * *


	8. Ep6: True Beauty

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**True Beauty**-**_

* * *

Dwarf Woodland. Inside a radiant white castle lived Snow White's wicked stepmother, the Queen. No one knows of her true name, so we'll just go with the Queen.

The Queen was terribly obsessed with beauty, and terribly paranoid that her stepdaughter would surpass her on the beauty scale. And at every hour strike she would consult her Magic Mirror inside her darkest chambers with one question in mind.

Who was the fairest of all?

An hour has passed and she was facing her Magic Mirror, only to stare at her reflection. She then raised her arms up in the air and chanted,

"Slave in the Magic Mirror, come from the farthest space, through the winds and darkness I summon thee!"

Her reflection suddenly vanished, to be replaced by smokes and thunders and wheels of burning fire.

"Speak!" she said, "Let me see thy face!"

On cue, everything cleared up and the mirror displayed in its reflection a drama mask-like face in a dark green shady color.

"What wouldst thou know, my Queen?" it spoke.

"Magic Mirror…" the Queen spoke, "who… and I mean _who_, is the fairest of them _all_ worlds!"

"All worlds, my Queen?" the Mirror repeated.

"_All _worlds." The Queen clarified.

"Famed is thy beauty, Majesty." the Mirror spoke, "But hold… what I see, is fairer than thee. Hair as blonde as the sun, eyes as perky as joy… hold. She wields not a heart of Pure Heart, but a heart… of Pure Bravery."

"Oh, thank you Magic Mirror. I…" the Queen stopped, turning cold, "Wait… blonde?"

The Queen of course, was not blonde. Snow White, dare she be the fairest of them all worlds again, was not blonde either! But who was blonde? The Queen saw rage in her eyes, determined to find the person who robbed her beauty instead of Snow White.

"Who is blonde?" she let a thunderous shout, rocking the chamber she was in.

She started for the exit, fists clenched. She then paused to sneer, "I will rob that person of her beauty. And she won't live to hear the rest."

Back at Midlight City,

"Are you serious?" Rian exclaimed.

"I came as soon as they left the Gummi Ship." Pierre informed the teens his encounter with Donald and Goofy and they all looked paranoid.

"If Donald and Goofy both find out that we ditched them without their permission… no, without Donald's permission, we'll no longer be Keybearers!" Taylor worried.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Sierra's scream shook the entire Midlight City High School. The teens rushed toward the girls' restroom where Sierra was heard and was hiding. The teens saw teenage girls running out of the restroom, screaming for their lives.

"Sierra! Are you okay?" Rian was ready to knock down the door, but Taylor stopped him, "Hey, you don't have to be heroic."

Taylor entered the restroom, and suddenly the gang heard _her_ scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The guys looked more edgy. The restroom opened and Taylor came out with Sierra, who had a brown bag covering her face. The guys looked suspicious.

"What's with the bag?" Talen said, slightly laughing.

"Don't start with me boy!" Sierra pointed the finger at Talen.

"Guys." Taylor looked like she had seen a ghost, "No matter what happens, I want you all to know, that Sierra's our friend, and I don't want to hear anything different from you the moment you see her face."

"What's wrong with her face?" Axel asked.

"Taylor!" Sierra threatened, "Don't you dare!"

Taylor hesitated before removing the brown bag off Sierra's head. The teens flinched in dreary shock. Sierra's face was covered in pimple! Huge ones at that, the size of marbles! Worse, her nose was curved down to look like that of a witch. Her eyes' sizes were uneven. One was larger than the other, while the smaller one looked like a yellow bead-eye similar to that of the heartless.

"Sweet mama of Freakazilla!" Axel screamed, "What did you do?!"

"What did _I_ do?" Sierra looked pissed, "I woke up with THIS! That's what I did! I wasn't paying attention to my face since we got here until some student called me Pimpling-Face!"

The guys chortled.

"That's not funny!" Sierra barked, "I CAN'T BE NAMED HOMECOMING PRINCESS IN TIME FOR THE PAGEANT LOOKING LIKE THIS! We gotta fix this!"

"But, we got a mission to fulfill in another world!" Rian said before facing Pierre, "Apparently, Pierre wasn't discreet enough to avoid Donald and Goofy!"

"Hey, don't look at me." Pierre pointed at himself, "I'm not the one who set us up in this mess! And by the way Sierra, no matter what happen, I will never leave you for someone else." Pierre quickly held back on puking.

"Hey I got an idea!" Axel declared, "Why not split?"

"Split?"

"Yeah!" Axel said, "Apparently, we're six! We split up 3-on-3? Three people will go on the mission, and then the three remainders will fix Sierra's skin disease."

"IT'S NOT A DISEASE! IT'S ACNE!" Sierra screamed.

"Really?" Axel grinned, "Cuz I don't remember a curved nose being an acne problem."

"RAWWR!"

Sierra was ready to rip off Axel, but Taylor restrained her.

"You know what? Maybe you guys should go on the mission yourselves!" Taylor shouted, "I'll handle Sierra myself."

"Okey-dokey." Talen said, "Good luck with the face."

The guys laughed before running off to a secluded room to teleport, as Sierra kept pulling from Taylor's grasp to pursue the boys, and Taylor kept restraining.

* * *

Ivy was watching the teens Keybearers through a moon's reflection from the Dominion's Lounge, mumbling to herself. The Lounge looked very similar to Organization XIII's lounge from _KH 358/2 Days_

"Sloppy, sloppy work." She mumbled, "We were this close. _This _close to finish them!"

She angrily faced her Blackhearts comrades, "But no, that friggin' jerk knight Terra had to _ruin_ everything again!"

"My Behemoth… sniff." Tidicus was staring at a Behemoth figurine, weeping over his loss.

"All right, that is enough, you two!" Alistare the Mastermind bellowed, "You sicken me! We have biggest stuff in hand than to cry over spill milk." Alistare was the oldest of the Blackhearts' dominion, a middle aged ruthless figure whose heart was as cold as his comrades. Which explained his rudeness to Tidicus and Ivy.

"Do you even know how we feel?" Ivy approached Alistare, hurting like an innocent bird.

"Oh I know _exactly_ how you feel." He blankly said, "But I don't give a damn. If one plan falls on the water, we move on to the next."

Alistare then faced the other Blackheart member, Percicle the Champion, who gave him a nodding signal. The rest of the Blackhearts rejoined the group for a brief meeting.

"Percicle has gathered some vital information he'd like to share to us Blackhearts." He explained.

"Vital info?" the curious Firias the Anger wondered, "I boil to speculate, but you better share every detail."

"Sure enough." Percicle begun, "I've detected a great flow of darkness at Snow White House. It seems that someone is working some serious dark magic in that world where one of the Princesses of Hearts resides. If we assist whoever harnesses this type of darkness, the princess's heart, better yet, the world will be ours for the taking. Even better, that darkness seems to be drawing attention to those possessing the Hearts of Pure Bravery."

"Meaning that these pesky Keybearers are coming to the world." Sage the Calm said.

"Exactly."

"Excellent find, Percicle." Maurchel said, "We should tend to the darkness wielder's assistance very soon. In the meantime, we should be ready."

"What for what exactly?" Denzol the Demeanor who shares multiple personalities asked.

"The Day of Reckoning is coming." Maurchel informed, "We must find the vessel. The perfect vessel that will draw in his heart. Now, why do you think we are collecting Hearts of Pure Braveries for, hmm? Ultimate power is what we seek. And ultimate power is what we'll gain." Maurchel finished, like all great villains, with an evil laugh. And his comrades followed.

* * *

Thunder, Sharx, Blazen, and Stone arrived at Dwarf Woodland at an area not far from the mine where they just missed the seven dwarves going to work and singing, "Hi-Ho! Hi-Ho! To work we go, we go!" (I dunno the lyrics)

"So this is Snow White's House?" Stone gasped, "That is one HUGE house! Like how many house plants does she has, dozen? And checkout the fireplace!" he then pointed at the mine.

Blazen rolled his eyes, "That is NOT Snow White's House, you peabrain! That's Dwarf Woodland!"

The confused Stone looked around and finally took notice of the actual forest he was in, "Ohh…"

The ground started shaking a bit, giving a sense that something big was approaching.

"You feel that?" Thunder warned, "We're being followed."

The shaky ground eventually grew louder, making the guys unstable on their feet. They heard galloping from behind them. Huge galloping. Like they were coming from horses' hooves.

They turned around and they saw an army of Centaurs. Heartless Centaurs! Like an army of half-Neo Heartless with half-horses so black that they make them look like giant cockroaches that make you crawl.

"WHOA! SH—!"

"GET OUT!"

"AW, CRAP!"

The boys started running for their lives. But the creatures were too fast. At a split-second, the boys jumped out of the way and fell to nearby bushes. The heartless continued on aimlessly down the road, unaware of the boys' hiding spots.

"What the hell was that?!" Sharx exclaimed.

"I think… I _think… _they were heartless?" Thunder said, feeling traumatized.

"Heartless as in heartless creatures, or heartless as in these huge cockroaches bugs that crawl into your freaking bedside manner?!" Blazen barked. The boys didn't get what he was saying but they were too freaked out to disagree.

"I think it was both!" Stone said.

"Something dark and serious is at work in this world." Thunder said, "We should precede carefully guys."

"Yeah, tell us something we don't know." Blazen said, rolling his eyes.

"Seriously guys, after that experience, I don't think I should be playing another '_God of War III_' before bed!" Sharx confessed as the boys proceeded deeper into the forest.

They finally reached Snow White's House, or presumably the house of the dwarves. It was a nice warm-looking cottage hiding deep within the woods. The boys could hear Snow White's lovely singing voice from a distance and located her drying out sheets outside on tree branches. She was humming "Someday my Prince will come"

"Now _that_ is Snow White's House!" Blazen said, clarifying to Stone.

"We're supposed to protect her, right?" Sharx asked, "Exactly how should we protect her?"

"We're Keybearers." Thunder clarified, "We can do anything."

"Really? Then, let's cast a Reflect Spell on her to protect her and her house!" Stone said before calling on his Keyblade and aimed it at the house.

Thunder lowered the blade, "Okay, maybe not everything. How about we talk to her?" he proposed, "At least one of us. Volunteer, anyone?"

There was an awkward silence with the teens. They then blurted out.

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it! Damn!" Sharx cursed and the guys hollered at him.

"Aw, come on. You talked to princesses before." Thunder grinned, "Aren't you like the best KH player in the game?"

"You just said that 'cuz _I_ said it!" Sharx whined.

"And I'm sayin' it again. Whoo-bam!" Thunder cackled, "Now get it there and talk!"

Thunder pushed Sharx off the bushes and into the yard to face Snow White. Snow White turned around, startled. Sharx froze. The boys quickly lowered their heads in hiding. There was this awkward silence again.

"Ohh my… it's…" Snow White blinked, "… I don't seem to acknowledge your presence. Who are you?" she asked with a gentle smile.

"I…I…I …I…I…" Sharx stammered, "…I…I w… wa… wah… ahem! …_was… _in theforest when I uhh…"

Snow White tried to understand what he was blabbing on about. Sharx quickly cleared his throat, "…saw you and was wondering if… Hi!" he quickly said, shaking off his nervousness, "I'm… my name is Axe… I mean Sharx! And uh… I'm your protector."

He held out his hand for a handshake.

"Oh! Protector." Snow White responded to his handshake with a graceful curtsy instead. "It's nice to meet you. Are you also my prince?"

Sharx then formed a huge grin, and looked on the ground bashfully, "Well… hee-hee… if you put it that way…"

"Scoff! Yeah, right?!" Thunder snobbishly shouted out, startling Snow White and Sharx. The boys finally got out of their hiding place and approached. "You're not a prince!"

"Excuse me?" Snow White looked ever more confused.

"HEY!" Sharx screamed, "Do you have to ruin peoples' moments?!"

"Get used to it. It's his hobby." Blazen commented, reminiscing the time he lied to Sierra and Pierre about the Gummi Ship and Rian had to blow it. He glared at Thunder on cue.

"Who are you?" Snow White asked, but then she suddenly turned pale at the sight of Stone's Keyblade. She began to step back, "Wait… my stepmother hired you didn't she? You're here to kill me, are you?"

"What? Wait… whoa… WHAT?!" the boys gasped in unison, already panicking.

"Wait a minute, no! We're not—!" Thunder tried to speak.

Blazen saw what caused Snow White to back away: Stone's Keyblade. He snapped, "Man! Get this thing away from lovely princesses, dang it! Sheesh!"

"Aw man…" Stone reluctantly made his Keyblade vanish, "then how can we protect the princess if we put it away?"

"Wait… Protect me?" Snow White asked. She quickly approached the boys, "you're not from the castle?"

"No we're not." Thunder said, "We're more than that."

Thunder morphed back to Rian. Then the boys followed, turning back to their old selves again.

"We're Keybearers."

"Defenders of the Realm of Light?" Snow White pulled up a relieved smile.

Rian nodded proudly.

"Uh-huh. Yeah sure. Be cocky." Axel said, rolling his eyes.

"Wait, why would your stepmother send out guards to kill you?" Pierre asked Snow White, looking perplexed.

"Simple." Talen replied, "_All_ stepmothers are evil. My pops married _six_ women, and all of them became my stepmothers. None of them were nice! I mean, they were either mean and nasty, or snobbish and clueless like London Tipton… sheesh. And the last one was just as cold as _ice_!"

"Actually, my stepmother used to be a lovely woman." Snow White clarified, "But that was until my father died."

xXx

I used to live in that elegant white castle up on the hills when I was very young. I had a lovely family. There was my father the King, and his royal subjects who treated me with care and kindness. My mother the Queen, whom I never got the chance to meet, died the day I was born. My father, I could recall how much pain and sorrow he had for losing her that day, thought he would never find love again. But thanks the spirits, my father had another chance at it again and fell in love with my stepmother the Queen whom he then took as his loyal wife. The Queen was a very lovely woman. And she was very beautiful too. But something tragic made her change. My father died of a grave plague and the queen became obsessed of ruling over the kingdom and obsessed of being named the most beautiful woman in the land. And ever since then, she's been treating me like a servant and soon strived for ways to get rid of me.

"So that's why she sent out soldiers to get you?" Talen said. The boys and Snow White were inside the house having a snack that the princess had whipped up.

"Because of your beauty?" Pierre said, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Looks like we have an insecure queen to deal with." Rian remarked.

"What? Like you're not insecure with your video game skills?" said Axel, grinning at Rian tauntingly.

Rian scoffed, "That is a whole 'nother story!"

Snow White looked confused, "Video games?" she repeated.

"Yeah, _that's_ a whole other story." Rian said.

"So now you're staying in this house?" Pierre asked.

"Yes. The seven dwarves'. They took me in when I was needed most." She said.

"And you're gonna need us plenty." Talen said, reassuring the princess, "Y'see. We're on a mission to protect you from these bad guys in black and—!"

"Talen!" the guys exclaimed. Talen shrugged, "What?"

"Bad guys in black?" Snow White said, "You mean these dark shadow horses that have been running down the woods recently?" the princess mentioned the centaurs the boys crossed paths with earlier.

"Wait… whoa… WHAT?! Guys in horses?" the boys exclaimed.

"I saw an army of them three days ago." Snow White replied, "They tried to take me, but the dwarves saved me from their clutches."

"She's talking about those creepy roachy horse-heartlesses." Pierre muttered to Talen.

"I know what she's talking about!" Talen snapped.

"These centaurs… what do they want from you?" Axel asked, "It sounds like they didn't want to kill you like the Queen's guards."

"They seem to want something else from me." Snow White said, "They muttered something about stealing my heart."

The boys looked warned.

**

* * *

The Queen's Castle**

"Your Majesty. You have a visitor," called one of the guards to the Queen.

The Queen watched one of the Blackhearts in trench coat approaching, their face hiding under hood.

"I was not expecting a visitor. I was expecting a message!" the queen said angrily.

"Patience, queen." Spoke a female voice underneath the hood. The hooded Blackheart revealed her face: Sage the Calm. Calm and serene, Sage always eased the tension of any angry person (especially Firias in previous chapters) without even frowning or raising her voice. She has that same striking beautiful resemblance as that female villain from _Final Fantasy XIII_.

"It is a virtue." She added.

The Queen sternly glared. Sage went on, "I have sensed that you needed help and assistance. And I'm here to give it to you." Sage said with loveliness in her tone.

"What do you know?" the Queen turned her back on Sage, and she started to leave when Sage said, "I know about true beauty."

She froze.

"…and I can give it to you."

The Queen slowly turned to face Sage.

"Say the word," Sage continued, "and I promise I will sent out armies of dark centaurs and black zits to overrun this world, and hurt anyone stealing your beauty including your so-called stepdaughter the fairest Snow White… and the one possessing the Pure Bravery Heart. I would even personally give Snow White a hearty treat. After all, she's willing to trust anyone." On cue she summoned her dark Keyblade and it transformed into a delicious firm red apple.

"I do not know, and care who you are." The Queen then pulled a murky grin, "but I like your intent to gain ultimate power."

"Believe me." Sage smirked as well, "I don't intent to gain it. I get it."

Unknown to the Queen and Sage, the Prince was watching, spying on the Queen's latest scheme and horrified by the Blackheart's presence and her weapon. He somehow had to warn his love of his life, Snow White, of the danger, and fight the terror that was coming before he was too late

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Next Chapter**::

_The Princess and the Bad Boy_

Author's Note: **Matt Salazar/Cross**, and **Violet Kitari/Flora** will appear in the next episode. And if you want more of the Blackhearts' Dominion, then check out **Kingdom Lights, **a KH fanfic co-written by me and Rhodes's (the guy who created Violet/Flora for this fanfic). This tale is about the last Keybearer being hunted down for his blood by the Blackhearts' available at my deviantart page

* * *


	9. Ep7: The Princess and the Bad Boy

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**The Princess and the Bad Boy**-**_

* * *

Back at Midlight City High School.

Taylor was leaning on one of the toilet's cubicles at the girls' restroom, where Sierra locked herself in to weep in silence.

"Sierra, it's been two hours since you've been in there, we're about to miss our third period class." Taylor reminded her friend.

"Not until you find a cure for my face!" Sierra shouted.

"I can't find a cure without you the patient _seeking_ the cure!" Taylor replied.

The restroom door swung open and in came… a guy?!

The guy had long dark-brown hair (his hair were similar to Riku's from KH2), and he wore a black shirt with long, baggy navy pants. He also wore a wristband that says 'Kuran' on it, and has several piercings on his right ear.

Taylor saw the guy and, instead of freaking out because of the obvious, she quickly got up and greeted him excitedly, "Matt! There you are!"

"Hi." He sounded nervous before he and Taylor shared a quick kiss. His emerald eyes then fixed across the restroom, "Why am I in here and not outside? Where I'm supposed to be?"

"Don't worry Matt. No one is here except Sierra and I." Taylor reassured.

"Good." Matt sighed, "Cuz I don't want to be called a pervert."

"You brought Matt Salazar here?!" Sierra exclaimed inside her cubicle, "Are you MAD Taylor? He's one of the most popular guys in school!"

"Yeah." Matt said sarcastically, "Second to Talen Brightfire. Seriously, what do these girls see in that guy? Anyway, what's the emergency?"

Taylor touched the cubicle with her finger and it set ablaze. The exposed Sierra stared back at Matt and screamed piercingly before pulling Taylor in front of her to shield her hideous face.

Matt arched back, "Oh my gash! Her face!"

"I know." Taylor sounded monotone.

Sierra peeked over Taylor's shoulder, "You saw that?"

"Yeah, you look like a witch." Matt replied.

"I wouldn't say a witch." Another voice—a strong independent girl's voice—sounded in the restroom "You're more of a crow. The curved nose gives it away."

The girl that just came in was Asian and had violet-hair. She wore a violet school girl uniform with a skirt that reached near her knees. She smiled at the two girls.

Taylor frowned at her before facing Matt, "What's she doing here?"

"Taylor, there's nothing going on between us. Violet's just my Biology partner." Matt reminded her girlfriend.

"Yeah." Violet said, "Like I have time to play hooky with your boyfriend." She scoffed, then peeked over Taylor to stare at the hiding Sierra, "And what died on your face?"

"HEY! It's not that bad, y'know? It's natural!" Sierra barked.

"Not to me." Violet said, "You got Chloracne: an eruption of blackheads, cysts, and pustules. You, girl have a problem."

"Or, it could be your Beauty Mark that is missing." Matt said, staring at his PSP he had pulled out. Taylor and the shying Sierra went to stare at the PSP screen. They saw a glowing orb with a beautiful face reflecting on it swirling on the screen.

"My Beauty Mark?" Sierra repeated.

"Everybody has one. And we're not talking about the dark pimple we get somewhere in our body. We're talking about this one." He pointed, "It is a magical orb that represents the very existence of our beauty. Without it, one could end up looking like…" he then faced Sierra, "…that."

"Oh, just say it Matt. She's ugly." Violet snapped.

Sierra stammered, "B… bu… but I… I don't have that!"

"Exactly." Matt said, "Someone stole it. Someone from another Realm. Not this realm. My first guess would be from the _Kingdom Hearts III Online HD_ world."

"Really?" Taylor, Sierra and Violet looked on interestingly.

"Who? Who stole my Beauty?" Sierra went to grab Matt by the colon and violently shake him silly, "Who's the damn criminal?!"

"Relax! I'll tell you." Matt said, before pushing up more buttons on his PSP. His answer finally displayed on the screen. "There. It comes from the Queen's Castle at Dwarf Woodland."

"Dwarf Woodland?" Taylor repeated, "That's where the boys are."

Violet raised an eyebrow, "Boys?" she looked confused. But Matt wasn't. He somehow knew what Taylor was saying.

"I'll fill you in later." Taylor told her, "But right now we got a group of Keybearers to contact." She then faced Sierra, "And YOU got a pageant to win."

Violet choked back from laughing hard. Taylor glared at Violet briefly before pulling the reluctant Sierra out of the restroom. Violet and Matt followed.

* * *

Rian felt his arm vibrating and jumped, catching the guys' attention. "Whoa!"

"What's up?" Pierre asked.

"I… I dunno! My arm feels funny…"

"Wave your hand over your arm." Axel advised.

Rian did it and his Digital Gauntlet glow a menthol green, covering his arm. He faced Axel with an annoyed look, "Do you have to know everything?"

Axel pursed his lips and shrugged, "Pretty much. What? You didn't know how to work this thing?"

Rian scoffed, "Oh I knew!" he then hesitated, "…just not… as…" Rian hesitated. He cleared his throat and uncomfortably said his name, "ahem… Rian Rivers."

"There you go!"

"What does the Gauntlet said?" Talen asked.

Rian pushed some buttons to open its holographic screen and checked, "It's a Twitter Message from Taylor."

The boys looked surprised, "Twitter?!"

"So you can tweet in here? Awesome!" Pierre exclaimed.

"Wow, just imagine! This could be my _fifth_ twitter account besides this gauntlet!" Talen said proudly.

The guys turned to him, surprised, "You got four Twitter accounts?" Axel exclaimed.

"Yeah! One for the girls, one for the guys, one for my parents, and one for my real friends." Talen said.

"Are we your real friends?" Pierre nervously asked, looking like he didn't want to know the answer to that question.

Talen hesitated, "Yeah, something like that."

Rian read the Twitter message, "Soledad: Just found out about Sierra's condition. She's under a spell. Please find her Beauty Mark at Dwarf Woodland. Sierra and I are entering Beauty Pageant."

The boys laughed at that last sentence.

"Guys, that's not funny!" Rian said, smiling and trying to hold back his laughter too.

"Okay let's get serious." Axel said, "What does she mean by finding her Beauty Mark? I mean, doesn't she has one?"

Rian double-checked the tweet. It had a picture of the shiny Beauty Mark stone on the message.

"It's a different kind of Beauty Mark." Rian showed the picture, "Apparently it's some sort of spiritual stone that holds our beauty intact. Without it we look like the trash threw up on us."

"Like Sierra!" Talen howled with laughter and the others followed, laughing and guffawing at Rian's remark that seemed very easy to picture.

"Guys!" Rian chortled, "I… I didn't mean it!"

It took the boys a while to quiet down.

"So what do you think?" Rian asked.

"I'm thinking the same person who wants Snow White dead is the same person who stole Sierra's Beauty Mark." Pierre said.

"And if that person is truly obsessed with beauty," Axel said, "then they don't want anyone from this world and our world to be beautiful. It just simple as that."

"And that person is none other than the Witchy Queen herself!" Talen said before cracking his knuckles, "Why I oughta give her some beauty treatment!"

"Great! But we can't do that!" Rian said, "Someone has to protect Snow White!"

The boys pondered for a while. "How about _one_ of us protects Snow White while the three of us go find Sierra's Beauty Mark from the Queen?" Axel proposed.

"Love the idea, dude!" Pierre said, "But really, who will protect a special princess like Snow White?"

There was an awkward silence with the teens. They then blurted out.

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it! Damn!" Rian cursed and the guys hollered.

"Hey, don't get mad! You're the best KH Player ever! Aren't you?" Axel provoked.

"Oh, I'll show you who's best?" Rian sniggered.

"Am I interrupting something?" Snow White entered the scene and asked the gathering teens.

"Actually, Princess, you're in perfect timing." Axel said before facing Rian with a sneer, "Rian is gonna take care of you, while the three of us are gonna take care of the queen."

The three teens were about to leave when Snow White said, "Oh, but please don't hurt her! I do not wish for anyone to get hurt. After all, she _is_ my stepmother."

The boys looked on poker-faced. Axel then faced Pierre. Pierre then faced Talen. Talen then faced Axel, and then he turned to face Pierre. Both boys stared back at Talen who looked very reluctant. There was that awkward silence again.

"Fine." Talen scoffed.

Snow White brought back her smile on her face again, "Oh, thank you! You are all truly noble Keybearers."

"We are doing a noble thing guys." Axel reminded the guys, and they all agreed.

"Okay, but if that queen comes at us full-force, I swear it's Roasting Time for her!" Talen exclaimed as the boys were heading out. "_Roasting Time_!"

* * *

Donald was inside the Gummi Ship, pondering when he heard Goofy enter with groceries bags.

"Gee, Donald. You should have come with me at the Radiant Kingdom's Day Market. It's full of good stuffs." Goofy said before chewing on a piece of delicious banana bread.

"No thanks I'm not hungry." Donald muttered.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Donald stood silence for a good minute before turning to face Goofy, "Goofy, why didn't you tell me?"

"About what?"

"About him."

Goofy stood still with his mouth full.

"Goofy?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." Goofy turned away.

Donald got off the control panel and confronted his friend, "What do you mean you don't know what I'm talking about?" Donald angrily sneered, "Terra told me everything that went down! He even told me that you knew! What I don't understand is why you didn't tell me? I thought we were friends!"

"We _are_ friends."

"Really? Well… I don't feel that anymore."

It didn't take long for Donald to realize what he said to Goofy was way out of line. Goofy looked hurt.

"W…Wait. So what are you saying? Because I didn't tell you what happened, we're no longer friends?" Goofy asked.

Silence fell between the two friends. Chip and Dale came at the right moment.

"Uh…what's going on?" Dale asked.

"Are we interrupting something?" Chip asked.

Silence again.

Goofy shook his head, "No. I was just leaving." He said before strolling out of the Gummi Ship. Donald tried to say something but the right words couldn't come out of his mouth.

* * *

Snow White faced Rian. Rian faced Snow White. Rian appeared nervous and tense, and Snow White could help but notice.

"Is something the matter?" she asked gently yet politely after a good solid minute of silence.

"Well… I don't mean to be rude but…" Rian took a deep breath before blurting out, "…don't you have like a TV, or a DVD or something?"

"TV? DVD?" Snow White repeated with curiosity in her voice, "What is that?"

"YOU don't know TV and DVD?" Rian looked shocked, "What about a computer? Do you own one?"

Snow White still looked clueless.

Rian alarmingly stood up. "An iPhone?"

No response.

"VIDEO GAMES?!"

Rian finally gave up! "Oh my gosh, Princess Snow White! How do you live?!"

"We were given the breath of life?" the princess answered.

"No!" Rian snapped, "No, no, no! I'm not talking about philosophy here!"

"You look rather upset. Can I get you anything?" Snow White was ready to leave her chair, but Rian stopped her.

"No, please!" he exclaimed, "I just wanna do something while I'm protecting you!" he then sighed again before collapsing back on a chair, "Seriously, this whole protecting-you-kinda-deal is gonna be _soooo_ boring."

"Well," Snow White began, "If you're bored, I can help you with something."

Rian's head jerked up in hope, "Really? You can hook me up?"

"I…" Snow White hesitated, not understanding the meaning of 'hook me up', "… believe I can do that? But first, why not transforming back into your Keybearer self, just for extra protection?" Snow White suggested.

Rian beamed, "Yeah. That's not such a bad idea!"

Rian stretched a pose, DBZ-Style, and a blinding light struck his body, transforming him back to Thunder.

"Sweet! Now we're talking!" Thunder then pulled out his PSP that was equipped with his Keybearer's outfit, "Now why didn't I think of that?"

"If you're bored," Snow White wasn't finished, "the dwarves left a lot of dishes before heading off work." She pointed at a pile of dirty dishes by a clogged sink. Thunder cringed, "Aw, man…"

Snow White tossed him a bar of soap and a sponge, "You can help clean them up." She said with a gentle smile.

"I'll definitely do that. But first and foremost, lemme check my email." Thunder went back to his PSP, "Scoops around the school says that Sierra has made the audition!" He suddenly laughed out loud, "Seriously? Phew! Unless the Beauty Pageant has a Ghoul Girl title on its award list, I totally wouldn't agree! Ha!"

Snow White shook her head, "I don't know about you, but this rather odd object that you and your comrades are always using doesn't qualify as work in my opinion."

Thunder paused. Somehow Snow White got into his conscience. "Wh…what…" he chuckled nervously, "What are you saying? It's just something to… ummm… stop boredom. Like… work?"

"Please put it away, kind sir."

Thunder reluctantly put his PSP back, "…all right fine. I'll do the dishes. Sheesh, you're maybe beautiful but you're quietly annoying."

Thunder suddenly saw a hideous face peeking through the window from outside. The hideous face was an old woman, carrying a basket full of apples.

"Whoa!" Thunder jumped, accidentally broke a plate.

"Is something wrong?" Snow White asked, alerted.

Thunder turned to face her, then turned to face the old woman, but she was gone.

"I…" he hesitated, "…I thought I saw something."

The door swung open, and Thunder and Snow White together saw the old woman carrying the apple basket. She looked frail, weak, and demanding. But rather very hideous.

"Oh, please help me…" the old woman groaned.

Snow White immediately rushed to her aid.

"Oh my heavens! Are you all right?" Snow White asked before turning alarmed when the old woman collapsed to Snow White's arms, "Oh dear! You're hurt!" the princess faced Thunder. "Please help her get to bed!"

Thunder hesitated, "I dunno about you, but she looks evil."

"It is not my place to judge before helping others." Snow White said, "You have got to help her, please!"

Thunder stared back at the old woman who appeared very helpless… but somewhat sneaky. Thunder knew there was something wrong with that woman… something evil. He could sense it from his Keybearer sense. But he didn't know what it was. He then faced Snow White whom her pity for the woman made _him_ feel pity.

"All right fine." Thunder helped Snow White carrying the woman to bed.

The old woman smiled, "Thank you young ones. I'm in your debt."

"Did something happen?" Snow White asked.

"I was almost run down by this stampede of strange dark horses." The woman replied, and Thunder knew what she was talking about, "Centaur Heartlesses." He thought.

* * *

The prince saw the dwarves getting out of the mine, just in time to close off work for the day. They were singing happily together.

"Heigh-Ho! Heigh-Ho! To home we go, we—!"

"Dwarves!" he called out to them.

The dwarves turned to face the paranoid prince.

"Well, if it is the Prince." Doc chuckled, greeting him warmly.

"You know, we never get to know your name." Grumpy complained.

"It's Richard." He responded, "Please listen. Snow White is in grave danger!"

The dwarves got alarmed, but Richard wasn't finish, "The Queen made an alliance with some dark warrior from another world!"

"A dark warrior from another world?" the dwarves repeated.

"Oh dear, maybe uh…" Bashful said bashfully, hesitating whenever he was trying to speak. "that dark warrior could be related to uh… these half-horse, half-darkness creatures we fought recently."

"What?" the Prince exclaimed, "You mean… these creatures you fought to protect Snow White? They were from that warrior? So it's true?!"

"We gotta do some—!" Sneezy cut himself short with a big sneeze.

"B-b-but what can we do?" Bashful muttered.

"W…what does that knight look like?" Happy asked excitedly (excited as in pressed and in-a-hurry). "Tell us everything!"

"I… I dunno… I…" Richard stopped to think. He could grasp a mental picture of a clue relating to the Blackheart, "…she was with the Queen…and she was carrying a sword… the shape of a key."

The dwarves all lock eyes with each other.

"And that key…" Richard continued, "…she transformed that weapon into a dark apple."

"A Deadly Apple!" the dwarves exclaimed in panic.

"C'mon, men! We gotta rescue Snow White fast!!" screamed Doc and everyone rushed in with Richard, unintentionally leaving Sleepy behind, who was snoring on the ground. Dopey came back for his buddy and effortlessly dragged him along.

* * *

The boys were halfway across the forest when Axel stopped their tracks.

"Wait." He said, "Something's wrong."

"What is it?" Pierre asked.

The boys stood quiet. The only thing that they were hearing was the sound of the rustling tree leaves. Talen suddenly turned around and saw a Neo Heartless with the gruesome colored arms pouncing on him.

"HEY!" he yelped.

"Whoa!" Pierre and Axel yelped before summoned their Keyblades, forcing the Neo heartless to jump off Talen. Talen then summoned his Keyblade and the boys saw themselves surrounded by Neo heartless of the same race.

"Aw, man! Heartless everywhere!" Pierre shouted. "And they appear very different!"

"Okay!" Talen sounded irritated, "Didn't their mama taught them not to sneak-attack on people? Especially ones carrying Keyblades?!"

"Guys, you know what this means right?" Axel said and the boys nodded in response.

"HENSHIN!" Axel stretched a fighting pose, DBZ-style, and light struck his body transforming him back to Sharx. Talen and Pierre stared back at him as if they wanna know what was up with that.

"It's a _Kamen Rider_ thing." Sharx quickly filled them in.

"Oh…" they say before stretching a pose DBZ-style also, "LET'S GO!!" They transformed back to Blazen and Stone and posed for combat. The Neo Heartless charged at them without hesitation.

Blazen placed his Fira Card on his Keyblade and stabbed his Keyblade to the ground, causing the Fira attack to erupt from the ground like a volcano, blasting the enemies up-high. Stone jumped in and delivered a couple air combos at the creatures, vanishing them one-by-one.

Sharx transformed his Keyblade into a Dessert Eagle and delivered 8x hit combos of his Gunshot at the Neo-Heartless, hitting most of them bull's-eyes. But more started to multiply and they all jumped at Sharx who tried to reload his gun and shoot at them some more. He jumped out of the way, and in midair started shooting, but the heartless grouped together to form a shield and deflected the gunshot.

The gun shots went flying everywhere, some went straight toward Stone. Stone nimbly dodged the blow in midair, and quickly placed a Reflect Card on his Keyblade, casting Reflect on him and the gun shots that were chasing him bounced back from him to hit the Neo-Heartlesses.

The Reflect quickly faded and Stone landed safely on the ground, only to get tackled from behind by more Neo Heartless. Stone air-recovered before he hit a tree, landing both feet on the tree's trunk to face his enemies. He placed the Neo Gravira Card on his Keyblade and jumped off the tree, charging them up straight with his Keyblade. He pierced right through the group, unleashing his Neo Gravira Spell on them to make them float helplessly. He then air-dashed toward them, and delivered more combos, before sending them to the ground with a Meteor-Smash style swing of his Keyblade.

Blazen kept attacking the Heartless with swings of his Keyblade, and finished with a strong pierce attack, sending them flying. He turned around and shot another Fira attack at another group of enemies, splitting them up and sending them flying. He let out a battle cry, and suddenly his body covered in flames. He went after the flying heartless, took focus on his enemies with his gauntlet, and unleashed his Focus Mode Supernova. He then shot out multiple of flames at his targeted enemies, incinerating to nothingness. Blazen landed back on the ground and his flame-engulfed body returned to normal.

The boys looked exhausted. But more Neo-Heartless showed up. One came right behind Blazen and grasped him in a tight hug.

"Hey! Let go!" Blazen yelped, struggling to break free.

"Blazen!" Sharx and Stone rushed to his aid, "Don't worry buddy." Sharx said, "We're—!"

They stopped their tracks as they saw an army of Centaur Heartlesses armed with bows and arrows, and lances, targeting them.

"…surrounded." Sharx finished.

"What?" Blazen exclaimed. "What do you mean surrounded?"

"All right, all right." Stone said, "Let's not move a muscle guys, or we might end up—!"

Too late. A Centaur let loose of its bow and its arrow went straight for the Neo-Heartless that was holding Blazen. But the arrow passed right through the creature, unharmed, and it stabbed Blazen instead.

"Aahh!" Blazen went down on his knee in pain.

Suddenly all weapons started flying at every corner, forcing the boys to defend. Stone quickly casted Reflect on the group, deflecting attacks, and Sharx casted Super Armor, preventing any more damages. The Reflect nailed some, but not all of the heartless.

"There's so many of them!" Stone complained.

"Wait, let me try something." Sharx proposed. He turned on his Gauntlet and he switched it to Focus Mode. His Keyblade morphed again into his Dessert Eagle gun, and suddenly split into two type of guns: Dessert Eagle and .44 Magnum.

"Great. More Gunshots! They keep deflecting those y'know!" Blazen grunted, still in pain from that arrow on his back.

"Not gunshots! Gun Time!" Sharx took focus on his enemies and unleash his Focus Mode Gun Time. Shots started barricading the long-ranged enemies, annihilating them completely. The enemies' number decreased rapidly and the boys no longer felt trapped with them. They finally released their defenses to go all-out.

Blazen switched to Fire Blazer Mode and charged at his enemies full-force, unleashing powerful fire-based combos, while Stone unleashed his mastered-powerful Quake Spell on them by jumping high up into the air with his Keyblade and descended it hard to the ground, causing a powerful tremor that sent them flying to oblivion.

The heartless were finally defeated and the coast was finally clear. The exhausted boys made their weapons vanish. Blazen grunted as he pulled out the arrow off his back and felt a deep wound there.

"Aw, dude. Are you okay?" Sharx asked him.

"Y…yeah… I'll be fine. Hold on." Blazen said, before taking a deep breath. As if in response to his deep breathing, his body glowed a bright red fiery light and the wound vanished in dust. The boys looked impressed.

"Brave Heat." Blazen told them, "Always comes in handy."

"Bravo, boys!" They suddenly heard clapping echoing around them with the voice. "Bravo!"

They looked around but they saw no one in sight… until Sage suddenly materialized before them, surprising them! She was smiling genuinely as if she was a friend, but the sound of her voice told them otherwise.

"I should congratulate you on your fabulous performance just now, but that would unfortunately interrupt the pleasure of seeing you win the stupid award for leaving the princess and your best friend behind." She said.

"You." Sharx sneered.

"Wait, who is she?" Stone asked.

"I dunno, but she looks evil." Sharx said.

"I'll tell you who she is." Blazen said, "A Blackheart member."

"Great guess, Blazen." Sage cocked her head on one side, "Now did you guess it, or did you pull that answer from outta you?"

"Why you—!" Blazen called back his Keyblade and menacingly charged at Sage, but Sharx and Stone quickly restrained him.

"Blazen, wait! She's not worth fighting against!" Stone warned his heavy-breathing friend.

"Yeah man!" Sharx warned him also, "We don't know what she's capable of."

"That's where you're right, Sharx." Sage said, "I am capable of a lot of things. Everyone in the Dominion does."

"Like what?" Blazen barked, "Steal Sierra's Beauty and put Snow White in danger by the hands of her own _stepmother_? You're low you know that?"

"Now the beauty thing is the stepmother's business." Sage replied, "Snow White on the other hand is a different story."

The boys looked questionable.

"What are you talking about?" Stone asked.

Sage let out a quick chuckle, "Now why don't you go back to her home and find that out yourself? You _left_ her, for your friend's beauty. How _pathetic_!"

"The only pathetic person is you." Sharx said, "We got Thunder. And he's protecting her as we speak!"

"Oh yes." Sage said, "So is he. As well as a complete stranger. From outta…" She eerily whispered the last phrase. "…nowhere."

Darkness enveloped Sage and she vanished. The alarmed boys faced each other.

"That doesn't sound good." Stone said.

"We gotta turn back!" Sharx proposed and the gang all turned back.

* * *

Back at Dwarf Woodland, the old woman was facing Snow White, "You must be the lovely Princess Snow White." The old woman said, examining the princess, "Lips as red as blood, skin as white as snow…"

Snow White smiled coyly. But Thunder looked wary. "How about we don't talk about how beautiful she is and leave?" Thunder quickly said, "And by we, I meant you." He said to the old woman.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry for making you uncomfortable." The old woman said, "Though I must thank you…" she then faced Thunder, "…the both of you, for helping me recover quickly from my trauma. As a token of gratitude, please accept…" she pulled out two pieces of apple, "…these apples. They are fresh from my ever-loving garden."

Both Snow White and Thunder looked hesitant. "Oh thank you, kind lady," Snow White said, "but we cannot accept your gifts. We appreciate your lovely gesture though."

Thunder let out a sigh of relief, but the old woman wasn't gonna let this go. "Oh, please. It's more than a lovely gesture. It's a gift." The old woman then beamed, "Hey, how about…" she dug back into her basket and pulled out…

"…these delicious Caramel Apples on a stick?" she said, holding on to the two delicious snack treats that were dripping in caramel honey liquid whose image looked like skulls, "It's a family recipe. They're too _die_ for. Mueeh! Hee! Hee! Hee! Hee! Hee! Get it? Die?"

"Whoa…" Thunder gasped, tempted. But Snow White was no different. "Please, we can't accept it." Snow White said.

Thunder snatched the Caramel Apple from the woman, "But I can!"

"Thunder?"

"C'mon, Snow White! It's Caramel Apple!" Thunder said, "What could possibly go wrong? It's not like it's been poisoned."

* * *

"Thunder, no! That Caramel Apple is poison!!" Taylor yelped on her PSP screen back at Midlight City High School's fashion room, where all the pageant-hopefuls were getting ready for the Homecoming Pageant. Matt and Violet came to watch.

"What's going on?" Matt asked.

"Thunder is about to fall into the Queen's trap!" Taylor exclaimed.

"How dumb can this boy be?" Violet said.

They stood by, helplessly watching the horror unfolding on the screen. They screamed, "NOOOOOOO!!"

The girls looked up, their attention got caught. Taylor, Matt, and Violet grinned back at them.

"Checking out a movie." Taylor covered up. But the girls all looked interested.

"An _action-horror_ movie." Violet added at the last minute and the girls immediately turned away.

* * *

Thunder took a bite out of the Caramel Apple when he heard Taylor's voice ringing in his ears.

_Thunder, no! That Caramel Apple is poison!!_

Thunder accidentally swallowed at the sound of poison and almost choked.

"Thunder, are you all right?" Snow White asked him, but he couldn't respond.

Thunder had that grave look on his face as he lock eyes with the quietly-smiling old woman. "You…!" he breathed.

"Delicious, is it?" the old woman said, before cackling. "MUEEH! HEE! HEE! HEE! HEE! HEE! HEE! HEE!"

Thunder suddenly morphed back into Rian and quickly went down on his knees. The poison was quickly spreading.

"Thunder? Thunder, are you—?!" Snow White suddenly cried out just as Rian succumbed to the ground, "Thunder!!"

"Your charming Keybearer Prince is gone." The old woman sneered.

Snow White knelt beside Rian, her frightened eyes on the old woman who transformed back to her stepmother the Queen. Snow White was now helpless.

"…you're all alone now." The Queen yelled out, "Seize her!"

Centaur Heartless barged in the house and surrounded Snow White and Rian.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Next Chapter**::

_A Beauty Pageant's Rescue Mission_

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**On the Next upcoming Chapters of KH3 Online HD  
**_(scenes subject to change in the episodes)_

"Thunder, you idiotic Keybearer!" Blazen was staring at a half-eaten Caramel Apple he held with his fingers, "Who in their right mind would fall for that trick?"

xXx

"The Prince." Sharx, Blazen, Stone, along with Flora and Cross crossed path with the Prince and the dwarves in the forest.

"You…" The Prince angrily said before unsheathing his sword and pointed at them menacingly. "What have you done with the Princess!"

xXx

"No way can they save their princess from Destiny now." Sage told the Queen.

"What of that Keybearer, Johnny?" The Queen asked Sage.

Sage turned to face a floating Rian whose heart was starting to leave his body gradually, "What do you think?" she said, and the Queen smiled.

xXx

"I'm sorry sis, you have to leave!" Tenshu told his sister Kami.

"Why?" Kami asked curiously.

"Because it's too dangerous!" he hesitated, "I mean…"

The front door kept on slamming full-force. He glanced over at the door then back at his sister, "because…" he hesitated.

xXx

Goofy stared at the picture once more. So did Donald.

"Sora was a good friend." Goofy said.

xXx

"Good bye, Keybearers." Phantamis smiled, "Hello, Heart of Pure Light."

* * *


	10. Ep8: A Beauty Pageant's Rescue Mission

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**A Beauty Pageant's Rescue Mission**-**_

* * *

Back at Midlight City High School.

The school's auditorium had transformed to look like a fashion runway and the entire student body were bursting with cheers and supports for their pageant-hopeful friends.

"WHAT'S UP LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AND WELCOME TO THE 15TH ANNUAL HOMECOMING BEAUTY PAGEANT!" cried out the host, who sounded very familiar.

All attention turned to Tidus, the host of the Homecoming Beauty Pageant, and the burst of cheer rose to a higher pitch level.

I HOPE YOU GUYS BOUGHT YOUR CAMCORDERS AND CAMERAS, CUZ THIS IS GONNA BE A PAGEANT TO REMEMBER! NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT, PEOPLE! NO DOUBT!

Sierra approached her friends, appearing radiant in a beautiful sea-colored pageant gown. Her hair was styled to a bun to be similar to Cinderella's hair, she wore a small necklace with a star holding a diamond in its center, and she wore silk white gloves that reached down to her elbows. The biggest attention-getter was her face. She looked like an elegant woman!

"Guys, how do I look?" she nervously asked, catching her friends' attention.

"Oh my gosh, girl! You look so beautiful!" Taylor exclaimed before facing her boyfriend, "Right Matt?"

"Yeah!" Matt said forcefully, trying not to be mesmerized, "Real beautiful! So… breathtaking…like…"

"Yeah. What they said." Violet said unemotionally.

Sierra sighed frustratingly, "I feel like cheating!" she snapped, "I can't win the Homecoming Pageant looking like this!"

"But isn't it your dream?" Taylor spoke.

"It's not a dream for me if people recognize this face and not my real face!" Sierra then pulled out her radiant face on cue to reveal her true ugly face. That beautiful face was nothing but a mask.

Violet scoffed, "Well, somebody doesn't appreciate my art."

Sierra rolled her eyes before putting her radiant mask back.

"But it's the same face that got you into the Beauty Pageant." Taylor pointed out, "Without it you wouldn't stand a chance."

"I know!" Sierra said to Taylor before facing the offended Violet, "And I'm sorry about that, but…" she sighed, "I thought the guys were going after my Beauty Mark! What is taking them so long?"

The teens looked at each other, uneasiness showed up in their faces. Sierra noticed, "What's going on?"

The teens turned to Sierra, their mouth slightly opened as if they tried to say something but they can't.

"Guys?" Sierra placed her hands on her hips, "Something's wrong. I can sense it."

Matt sighed in surrender, "The guys got side-tracked."

"Huh?" Sierra fretted.

"Rian got tricked into eating a Poison Caramel Apple, and Snow White got captured along with him." Taylor revealed.

"What?!" Sierra exclaimed.

"The guys had to go back to stop him" Taylor said. "But I'm afraid they're too late."

"Well, we gotta do something!" Sierra exclaimed, "I thought Rian was one of the best players in the _Kingdom Hearts_ world!"

"And he's apparently one of the stupidest persons in the _entire_ world." Matt said.

"So, if that has happened, that means they got sidetracked on their mission to retrieve my Beauty Mark." Sierra sighed in defeat, "I guess I'll just have to compete looking like another person."

"No!" Taylor snapped, "No way am I gonna let this happen to my best friend!" she sounded fully-determined, "The Queen may have captured Snow White and Rian, but she has also captured your Beauty Mark! And we're gonna have to get it ourselves!"

Taylor turned around, pointed aimlessly and a beam of light shot from her finger, exploding into an aurora of fiery light to reveal a Keyhole Portal. She then faced Matt and Violet. "You go."

Matt and Violet got surprised.

"Hey! Why do we have to go?" Violet complained, "Can't I stay here, making fun of Sierra a bit more?"

Sierra frowned.

"No." Taylor said, "The more Keybearers in that world, the better for our chance at victory." She then faced Sierra, "Plus I have to supervise this whole pageant."

Sierra looked all teary, "Aw, you would do that for me?"

Matt stood up, "Well I'm in." he said, "I've always wanted to go to the _Kingdom Hearts_ world anyway." He went into the Keyhole Portal without hesitation.

"Fine, I'll do it." Violet sighed before heading into the Keyhole Portal, "But there better be a reward for defeating the boss."

Taylor extended her hand and the portal vanished into it.

* * *

Back at the Dwarf Woodland, the guys, in their Keybearers' forms, finally reached the princess's home, only to find it completely thrashed and raided. They stood there in horror, investigating the place.

Blazen stepped near a half-eaten Caramel Apple, which he carefully picked it up with his fingers. He shook his head, "Thunder, you idiotic Keybearer!" he sneered, "Who in their right mind would fall for that trick?"

"A Caramel Apple…" Stone identified the snack in Blazen's hand, "…only Rian can't resist that."

"He can't?" Sharx asked.

Stone faced him, "That's his favorite snack."

"Ohh…" disappointed sighs resounded from Blazen and Sharx in response. Blazen dropped the Caramel Apple, "What are we going to do? One of our strongest Keybearers is now in the hand of a ruthless queen who is holding Sierra's beauty Mark!!" Stone exclaimed.

"And now she's holding her own stepdaughter hostage too." Blazen added, "Now can we go roasting time on her now?"

"She obviously had help." Sharx said, "Sage."

Uneasiness suddenly filled the air around the guys. They looked around as if they were hearing something eerie and spine-chilling. That was because they _were _hearing something eerie and spine-chilling.

"Guys? Do you hear that?" Stone whispered, "It sounds like… like…"

"Like we have company." Sharx answered.

"We gotta leave!" Blazen warned and the guys turned for the exit. Suddenly, the roof crashed on them, causing lots of smokes. The smoke cleared up and a massive heavyweight figure was revealed. Made of metal and covered in a dark-blue shade with gleaming blue eyes, it was blocking the guys' exit, ready to give them a hard time. They turned to face their front and saw a bunch of Neoshadows emerging and filling up the house like it was a house party. The guys were surrounded.

"We're trapped!" Blazen yelled.

The Neoshadows jumped on the Keybearers. The Keybearers quickly fend them off, feeling distracted by their presence.

"Get away from us! We got a big boulder standing in the way!" Blazen yelled.

"Watch out!" Stone warned as he watched the massive monster readying a punch. He nailed Blazen to the face, sending him flying to a wall. The monster then threw a punch at Stone. Stone blocked the attack, but the monster used his other arm for an uppercut in Stone's abdomen. Stone flew up in an arch, and landed right next to Blazen.

The monster then faced Sharx. Sharx took sight of a symbol in the monster's forehead. It was no heartless!

The monster suddenly brought a Hammer Fist down on him. Sharx raised his Keyblade, blocking the attack. But the monster put more force on him. The Keyblade couldn't hold on much longer and vanished at will. Sharx stumbled back. The monster delivered another Hammer Fist. Sharx raised his arm in defense, and a Super Armor shield attack suddenly enveloped him. The monster flinched.

Sharx quickly stood on his feet and hurled his Chain Lightning attack at the monster. The monster is pushed off the house, not far enough to keep the guys safe but enough to buy Sharx time. Sharx ran up to his friends, who slowly came to after the blow.

"Guys are you okay?" he asked.

"We…ugh… we're fine." Stone responded.

"We gotta leave. Now. This monster is no heartless." Sharx informed, "Come on!"

Suddenly more Neoshadows emerged behind them. They looked around for a way to run, but there was no opening. They were trapped.

"Crap!" Sharx exclaimed.

"We can't outrun them all before the monster approaches!" Stone informed, "It'll be too late!"

The monster quickly recovered and approached them. "We _are_ too late." Blazen informed.

The guys braced themselves. Suddenly a humming was heard. The Neoshadows looked up and before they knew it a powerful holy light took over the room.

WHOOOOSH!

The Neoshadows vanished on cue, so did the brick monster. The boys saw the source behind the blast of light standing right before them.

"A Keyhole Portal?" Blazen muttered.

"That means someone's coming!" Sharx said.

"Who? Taylor? Sierra?" Stone tried to guess.

The portal spat out Matt and Violet. The teens landed on their feet, taking the appearance of their Keyblade alter-ego, Cross and Flora. Cross had a long sleeved white/black shirt and black pants, with a black sweatshirt that says 'Nine Orchids' on the back of it. Flora sported a violet-colored samurai dress with extremely long sleeved white top pulled back to her wrists, and wooden shoes. Her hair color, unlike Violet's, was green. Despite the appearance, the guys immediately recognized them.

"Matt Salazar?" Blazen exclaimed.

"And Violet Kitari too!" Sharx said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Stone asked him, but then he hesitantly added, "…in your dreams? Where you're not supposed to be?"

"Save it." Cross said, "We know your secret. About the game being real? Our powers being real? Our worlds being in _real_ danger? Sheesh, get real! Why do you think we are dressed like that?"

"Comic-Con?" Sharx comically answered. Cross glared at him. Sharx gulped, "Sorry." The glaring continued. Sharx exploded, "IT WAS RIGHT THERE!"

"Hey, that Comic-Con joke was _my_ line." Flora pointed out, "I'm just saying."

Cross ignored them and went on, "Taylor sent us. She thought after Johnny got himself captured and got Snow White captured, you guys might need backup."

"So she knows?" Stone asked, "And Sierra too knows?"

"If they didn't know, we wouldn't be here saving your butts from these heartless." Flora pointed out.

"Technically, you didn't save our butts. The Keyhole Portal did." Stone pointed out, "Whoo! Talk about seeing the light there. No wonder these creatures fled."

"Not all of them were heartless though." Sharx muttered as if talking to himself. But everyone heard him.

"What about the heartless?" Flora asked.

Sharx hesitated, seeing lots of eyes staring at him, demanding an answer. After all, he did mention the monster not being a heartless.

"Do you know something about that brick monster, Sharx?" Stone asked.

Sharx simply shrugged, "Just… never thought I'd see this monster again." He chuckled nervously, "At least not for real though. But can we move on? We gotta find Rian and Snow White!"

The guys left the house and traversed through the forest. There they crossed path with the Prince and the dwarves.

"You…" The Prince angrily said before unsheathing his sword and pointed at them menacingly. "What have you done with the Princess?"

"Who? Which princess?" Stone started babbling, "Nothing! Why do you think that? We didn't do anything to—!"

The prince moved his sword furthermore to barely touch Stone's throat. Stone gulped.

"Not helping right now, dude." Blazen informed him.

"You creeps captured Snow White!" Doc exclaimed, "We just came from our home and she was gone!"

"What? No! We didn't capture her!" Sharx exclaimed.

"You had an accomplice!" the prince accused, "A dark warrior, a female, wielding a sword the shape of a key!" the Prince then pointed out their Keyblades, "Much like the ones you are all wielding!"

The teens immediately knew what the prince was talking about: Sage. It's no brainer Snow White and Rian got both captured. The Queen had an accomplice in Sage. She was truly behind this.

"Okay, technically it's called a Keyblade." Blazen corrected the prince.

"Okay, stop!" Cross interrupted Blazen, before facing the prince, arms raised in surrender, "Please remain calm, sir Prince. We're the good guys. We'll never do anything to harm the princess. We were chosen to protect her. Heck, we're willing to _die_ for her! Give up our hearts!"

"What?!" both Flora and Blazen hissed. The other guys just stood there, plain-shocked. "Cross! What are you doing? We didn't agree to that!" Blazen exclaimed.

Cross didn't listen. He summoned his Keyblade and tossed it to the ground right before the dwarves and the prince. Cross then reverted back to his regular Matt Salazar self. The prince appeared stunned. "You… you're just kids!"

"We are regular teens chosen to protect hearts in danger of these dark warriors you are talking about." Matt started to explain, "These guys are our enemies. And why do I say that? Because Snow White is our friend too. And our friend who was assigned to protect her was captured, trying to defend her. Don't believe us, but we, as Keybearers of Light, are willing to die saving the princess, with… or without your help."

Matt then turned to face his friends. "Right guys?"

Flora didn't hesitate to revert back to her Violet self. Then Stone, then Sharx, and finally yet reluctantly, Blazen. They all turned back into their regular selves.

"Right!" Violet said.

"Totally right!" Pierre said.

"Damn right!" Axel said.

"What they said." Talen said.

The prince and the dwarves couldn't believe who they were facing: valiant warriors ready to take a blow for a princess and their captured friend.

"You…" he uttered, "To take such noble sacrifices, at a young age even… is something I wouldn't dare myself to do back in my younger years. You five are truly—!"

"Hey, waitaminnit," Grumpy scolded, "you're not gonna fall for that bogus old wives' tale are ya, prince?"

The prince turned to face him and the rest of the dwarves. Doc gave an agreement nod to the prince and the prince smiled, already knowing what that nod meant. The other dwarves all smiled as well, but Grumpy was not too pleased. "Hey, what's with the big grin? I hate them grins! Hey! Them better not be—!"

"We will help you." the prince said to the teens, "Just give us the order and we will do it."

The teens all seemed tense.

"Err… prince?" Axel muttered, "We don't give orders."

"Oh?" the prince said curiously.

"We do it together!" Axel grinned.

xXx

Sage was staring at a water-like sphere floating above her opened palm. It was showing a reflection of the Keybearers, the prince, and the dwarves heading for the Queen's Castle.

"What's the latest?" the queen demanded.

"They're currently on their way to rescue their dear friend and the princess." Sage informed, before vanishing the image with only a closing of her palm. She faced the queen, "No way can they save their princess from Destiny now."

"What of that Keybearer, Johnny?" The Queen asked Sage.

Sage and the Queen watched a floating Rian in the middle of a room, hovering above a sigil. His heart appeared to be gradually leaving his body.

"What do you think?" Sage said, and the Queen smiled in response to that. "He too will meet Destiny."

"Sage, was it?" the Queen said, "You have made my day. Thanks to your help, you have retrieved for me the Beauty Mark stolen from me by that blond wench from that other world you have warned me about." She then revealed Sierra's Beauty Mark to Sage by opening her palms to her on cue. Sage smiled back.

"She will now live an eternity in pure ugliness." The queen added, "And as for Snow White…"

She approached Snow White, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully in a cold dark bed made of concrete with horns on each borders. Unlike Rian, her heart wasn't leaving her body.

"…who is as many fools say, as ravishing as I am, she will finally meet her destiny: eternity in true darkness."

Sage sighed happily, "Feels so good to make your dream come true, Your Majesty. Now if you'll excuse me, I shall go greet our incoming visitors."

Sage vanished into the corridor of darkness, leaving the Queen with Snow White and Rian. The queen went to face the mirror. The mirror showed her the reflection of Sierra instead of herself, the Queen. Since the Queen took Sierra's Beauty Mark she saw herself as the beautiful teen and not as herself, the Queen.

"Witness it, Snow White!" The queen addressed her sleeping stepdaughter, "I, your stepmother, am the most fairest of them all." She then approached her bedside, "And you shall never be the fairest, ever."

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**On the Next upcoming Chapters of KH3 Online HD  
**_(scenes subject to change in the episodes)_

"I don't think your boys are ready to face this." Sage warned Cross, Flora, Stone and the dwarves.

xXx

"KYAAAAAH!!!"

The Queen's body suddenly yet in a grotesque way, morphed into a massive vulture, ready to attack Axel, Talen, and the Prince.

xXx

"Who are you?" Donald asked Phantamis.

"Nevermind who I am." He said with a creepy smile on the face, "Let's just talk about busting your little friends, shall we?

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**Author's Note: **Kami and Tenshu will debut on the next episode, in a flashback scene of Kami (Oops. Minor spoiler there) But who cares? I got plenty! Jean-Michel will debut in three chapters later, and finally Denzel and Trayne will debut together after him. And big surprise: a major KH villain will debut too! But you'll just have to wait till Episode 10.

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**Next Chapter**:: _New Power Revealed_


	11. Ep9: New Power Revealed

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

xXx**  
**

**Author's Note: **So it's official! Reports from TGShave it thatKH Birth by Sleep is coming January 2010! How exciting is that? To show my _excitement_ for it, I made a fan-based Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep desktop wallpaper _and_ a PSP Wallpaper. They're on my Deviantart page for download! Check out my Deviantart link on my profile. You'll love them!

Oh, and I want to thank those who gave me new ideas for this story, giving me new insights on what's gonna happen in the upcoming chapters! Keep it up! (you know who you are, pat yourselves in the back ;-) )

Now onto the story.

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**New Power Revealed**-**_

* * *

I stormed inside my house, shut the door, and started barricading it. A slam shook the door, ready to rip it off its hinges and I heard the hissing sound of that hideous frightening creature that sounded like it came from Hell from outside the house. I was frightened, knowing all full-well that that thing was going to kill me brutally.

"Hey Ten!" I heard a familiar voice. I jumped and saw my sister. She didn't notice me being scared. She was too busy smiling and talking.

"Finally, someone to talk to!" she sounded relieved, "You wouldn't _believe_ what just happened to me in the girls' bathroom today."

_HIIIIISSS!! _I heard that creature hissing again.

"Hey! Hi!" I grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her away from the door, "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here! You're supposed to be with our aunt!"

"I got bored," She shrugged, "so I came here."

I started dragging her toward the back of the house. She struggled, "Hey, what are you doing? Don't send me back there!"

"I'm sorry sis, but you have to leave."

"Why?"

"Because it's too dangerous!" I hesitated, and she looked me in the eyes strangely, "I mean…" I hesitated.

The door kept on slamming full-force. I glanced over at the door then back at my sister, "because…" I hesitated again, "…mom said our aunt is lonely. Keep her company will ya? Come on, damnit! Go!"

"Okay, okay! Geez, you don't have to be so bossy." She finally left the house through the back door. The moment she was gone, the front door broke free. I turned around and I saw it: my enemy.

It was a creature shaped like the skinniest human being on Earth. It looked pale skinned and looked like his skin got ripped all over, leaving open wounds and scars, like a self-eating, flesh-eating zombie. Worse of all, it was crawling in four legs, was missing an eye (there was a skeleton eyehole instead), and its lips were knitted shut to look like zippers. Height was about seven feet… and it was drooling with saliva.

xXx

"The creature was staring straight at me…"

A young teenage girl (ironically the sister of the boy who first appeared in this chapter) was reading from her brother's journal. Of course, she wasn't at her brother's bedroom. She was in her own bedroom, locked tight and secured from any outsiders and outside noises. You could say that her room felt like a secluded area inside a college library.

The girl was brown-haired with ponytail, had brown eyes, and she currently sported a plain white t-shirt, blue shorts and white knee-length. She used to be talkative, energetic, and quite the free-spirited gal. But something tragic had happened that completely changed her personality to be shy and lonely, and at the same time cold and an antisocial person. Her brother—her best friend in the world—was sent to the Midlight City Hospital after he was suddenly reported comatose. Their parents believed the cause of this was either poison or seizure. But the girl knew the truth: as a veteran KH Player alongside her brother, she knew someone was after him and killed his Keybearer in-game. But how was his Keybearer killed?

His heart was not stolen, his light stayed with him as always, but the boy's Keybearer alter-ego simply ceased to exist in the KH world, forcing him to be comatose in the real world. A mystery indeed.

And since the girl knew, that nobody should mess with her family, she was now seeking vengeance: a cold-blooded heartless vengeance, against her family's enemies. They're neither heartless, nor nobodies. They're PKers (aka Player-Killers). The girl's name: Kami Tsubasa. Her alter-ego: Naraku Shinigami, a Keybearer who goes by the nickname 'Death-Scythe', because of her fearsome specialty in Death and Darkness. She was a Death/Darkness-based Keybearer.

Could she pose a threat to our current Keybearers in the near future? As of now, we are not quite sure; as she is too busy looking for clues on her brother's assassins through his private journal.

Sitting on the ground, she flipped onto the next page of his journal only to see it blank. She then flipped through all the pages and saw the same result.

"…_That's it_." She uttered before closing the journal. She read her brother's name on the journal's cover: Tenshu Tsubasa. His Keybearer's name on the side: Kage 'Ruin' Rei. Curious, she turned to face a creature that was lying beside her. Ironically, it was the same creature that attacked Tenshu!

Of course, she didn't know that.

"_Why would he stop writing at this point?_" she muttered to herself, staring at the quiet creature.

"Any luck?" she heard a voice speak behind her. She turned and saw a middle-aged man with gray hair and a cunning smile approaching. The man also wore the trademark black-hooded Armani trenchcoat. A Blackheart!

Kami shook her head in response to his question before dropping her brother's journal to the ground. The blackheart removed his hood to reveal his face: Alistare!

"Have a little patience, my little girl." He said with comfort in his voice, "You will find your brother's PKers soon." He got close to Kami and gently caressed her cheek with his finger.

Kami rudely pushed away his affection and quickly stood up to face him, "I don't need your help!" she snapped, "I can handle this on my own."

"Why?" Alistare sounded hurt, "You would reject help from me because I'm a Blackheart?"

Kami stayed quiet. Alistare went on, "Face it Naraku." He called her by her Keybearer's name and not her nickname, "I'm the only one left in this world you live in. You rely on me when you rely on no one else. You're the one who requested full-rental of our Nix Vers.2" he said referring to the creature Kami had company. The creature hissed.

"Oh hush up. You'll be with your true self soon." Alistare chastised the creature.

Nix kept on hissing stridently. But Kami didn't care. She didn't care about the noise. She didn't care about anything else.

"I would like to be alone now." She said.

Alistare pursed his lips, not so thrilled about the idea, "Very well then." He said anyway, "I'll leave you alone. Since you looove to do just that."

Alistare turned his back on Kami and snapped his finger to conjure his corridor of darkness. Before stepping in he faced Kami one more time, "If you need anything… you know what to do."

**xXx**

Back in Dwarf Woodlands,

Matt, Violet, Axel, Talen, Pierre, the prince, and the dwarves finally reached the Queen's Castle. The interior was heavily guarded with soldiers and heartless, but the Keybearers managed to sneak past them, and on occasion defeated those who spotted them.

The heroes now found themselves before a grand empty hallway with thousand of doors leading to many places.

"Hey, I wonder where we go from here." Pierre wondered, before facing the others, "Any ideas?"

"I think we should split up." Violet proposed.

"That is one simple solution." Matt said before facing the team, "Axel, Talen, and the Prince. You guys should take the West Wing. Talen, you lead. Pierre, Violet and I will lead the dwarves down the East Wing. See if we can find something. Okay, go! But be discreet."

The heroes split up.

Talen led Axel and the Prince down the West Wing.

"I can't believe Matt puts you in charge of leading this group." Axel complained, "You are too reckless to be a leader, man."

"Really?" Talen grinned, "So you'd rather have yourself being the leader?"

Axel scoffed, "No. I was thinking the Prince could have been the leader."

Talen and Axel faced the prince for his opinion. He simply shrugged, "I do not mind following orders."

"Yeah right, Axel!" Talen joyfully wrapped his arm around Axel's shoulder, "You just jealous because I'm more wiser than you'll ever be."

"Hey! I can be wise!" Axel removed Talen's arm off him, "Heck, _I'm_ the one who should be leading this group so I'm stepping in!"

Axel took a step forward. But Talen pulled him aside, "No. It's me who should lead. So _I'm_ stepping in!" he closed in to Axel's face.

"No, it's me!" Axel shouted.

"Noo, it's _me!" _Talen argued.

"I'm fun!"

"I'M SMARTER!"

"It shall be fitting us should the two of you lead together?" the Prince proposed to the boys. But they didn't listen. The boys jumped back, facing each other, transformed into their Keybearers selves and summoned their Keyblades.

"I'm guessing not." The prince mumbled.

YAAAAAAH!!! Blazen and Sharx air-dashed toward each other, and locked Keyblades. They backed off each other and dashed again, landing blows. Blazen swung his blade high and low while Sharx swung it at every angle. Then Sharx blocked one of Blazen's attacks with Super Armor, causing Blazen to flinch and giving Sharx a chance to counter. Sharx then stabbed Blazen with a thrust, flinging him far to the floor. Blazen recovered.

**xXx**

While Blazen and Sharx were fighting a pointless fight, Matt, Violet, Pierre and the dwarves reached a massive audience chamber plunged in darkness.

"Man, this place is so dark it's not funny." Pierre shuddered.

Matt spotted six stone chalices facing one another, spreading apart across the chamber that led up to the stairs. He smiled. Being a Fire/Wind Keybearer has its advantage. With only his finger, he pointed and a Fire Spell and Gust Spell took effect, creating a stream of flames that blew through the stone chalices illuminating them and the entire chamber. The dwarves were in awe of this magic.

"How did you doooo that?" Happy jittered.

Before Matt could respond, someone else responded in the room, "I'll tell you how: he's a Keybearer. He's one of us."

All attention turned to the uninvited guest: Sage! She approached the group.

"N'est-ce pas?" she said, 'Is it not' in French.

"Sage." Matt narrowed his eyes.

"You again!" Pierre exclaimed.

"I knew you were the enemies! I just knew it!" Grumpy barked at the Keybearers, causing anxiety to his fellow dwarf family.

"We're not the enemies." Matt reassured the seven dwarves before facing Sage, Keyblade summoned, "She is." He took only one step and already his body had transformed to Cross.

Sage looked amused.

"Just leave the fighting to us, gentlemen." Violet summoned her Keyblade before morphing back to Flora. Her Keyblade had a similar shape to Ven's Keyblade, except its blade was longer and more trenchant to highly resemble a Katana instead of a Keyblade. Pierre then transformed to Stone and summoned his Keyblade too for combat.

Sage laughed, "How amusing."

"What's so funny?" Cross asked.

"That you so-called heroes are ready to fight a losing battle. That's what's funny." She said, "And to top all of that, I know about your little split-up with the rest of your group. Same way you split us up, remember?"

"Split us up?" Violet curiously turned to Cross, "What's she talking about?"

"She's only babbling. Don't listen to her." He said dismissively before raising his voice at Sage, "And you know what? Doesn't matter who splits who so as long as we take back what you stole from Sierra: her Beauty Mark. And we're taking Snow White and Rian home too!"

Sage tsked, "Yeah, nice desperate try. I don't think your boys are ready to face this." She snapped her finger, alerting the group.

**xXx**

Blazen quickly stood up and watched Sharx descending with his Keyblade up high. "You're finished!"

Blazen raised his arm up and a fireball started building up for a Fira Spell, "Think again, pretty boy!"

Blazen took one step back as he's about to launch his Fira spell at Sharx when suddenly a magical seal materialized on the floor he stepped on. It was the sign of the Chasers—the heart with the spike end. It trapped Blazen. "Whoa!"

"What?" Sharx made his Keyblade vanished just as he descended onto the seal and got trapped in it too.

"Gasp!" The prince reached for them, but froze up as the seal unleashed a powerful light, blinding the entire hall and the heroes.

**xXx**

Cross, Flora, Stone and the dwarves stood there in utter silence. Sage was chuckling. She had snapped her fingers earlier but nothing spontaneous had happened in the room.

"Okay, witch." Flora hissed, "What are you trying to pull? A Halloween prank? It's too early for that y'know?"

"It's more of a Halloween prank." Sage said, "It's Keyblade Magic."

"What?" the gang exclaimed.

"A little reward for your fellow boys, in finding the lovely Princess Snow White, Johnny, and the Queen possessing Ciel's face." She said, "Right this minute they should be arriving at the Queen's secret lair, where the Magic Mirror rests, and so will their doom."

Sage vanished, leaving trails of laughter behind. The dwarves freaked out more.

"What doom? What did you do?" Stone panicked, yelling to the hall, hoping for a response from the ruthless Sage.

"Oh no! They're gonna do something bad to Snow White I just know it!" Bashful jittered, and so did everyone else.

"What do we do?" Doc faced Cross and Flora, "You should know what to do! Tell us what to do?"

"Okay, first of all, stop with the panicking." Cross said, "Second, we find Talen and the others, and we find them fast."

The heroes took off.

**xXx**

The light vanished and the guys saw themselves inside a dark chamber. They didn't know where they were, but they knew that they somehow got teleported into another place. They looked around. There was this foul stench of potions and chemical renting the chamber. There were pillars that spread out before a long stairway, which lead to the exit. A small window with jailbars on them was there also, shedding only the faintest light. At every corner of the chamber were potions and books. In the middle of the room was what looked like a huge hole, with some green clouds swirling around at random. The teens walked around a bit, catching a quick glance, here and there, of the private belongings of whoever lived in that chamber… until they spotted the Magic Mirror! That chamber was the Queen's dark secret lair!

The boys have somehow automatically returned to their regular forms just after the teleportation. Axel stared briefly at the Magic Mirror which only showed his reflection and not the spirit trapped within. Axel quickly looked away from the mirror before being mesmerized by it to face his friends, with someone in mind to blame.

"Nice going, Raphael!" Axel insulted Talen, "Now look where we are! Look what you did! How did we end up here? And what was that light?"

"Raphael?" Talen scoffed, "Oh, sure. Be the insulting king, _Michelangelo_!" he then stared at himself, "And what's with allthat _stuff_ on me?"

Talen was enveloped in a strange violet aura, so were Axel and the Prince. They looked like glow-in-the-dark humans. Talen tried to shoo away the aura, but it was still there, "It's like some sort of stain or something! I can't get it out!"

"Dark magic." The Prince took a guess, "That could be the work of the Queen."

"Dark magic?" Axel repeated before recalling the magical seal he landed on, "But that thing we stepped on… it didn't… look like the work of evil."

"Whatchu talking about, Willis?" Talen asked.

"Didn't you notice?" Axel said, "That seal looked just like the seal in Terra's belt buckle: the heart with the spike. Did we get help from Terra?"

"Terra? Please." Talen argued, "He only helps when he wants to. We could have gotten help from Rian as far as we know. His necklace carried that same symbol too y'know?"

"Oh right!" Axel recalled the necklace Rian wore. It also had that same symbol, "You're probably right! Only one problem though… Rian got _poisoned_!"

Talen hesitated at that missing piece of reality, "Maybe he helped us out telepathically?"

The Prince stumbled on something heavy by the corner. The object looked like a coffin and it was covered by a white sheet. The prince suddenly felt heaviness in his heart, "…princess?" he mumbled before pulling the sheets up.

It was a glass coffin! And Snow White was in it, sleeping inside!

"Princess!" the prince exclaimed. He then uttered a simple whisper. "My love! She's here…" he then faced the teens, "Help me get this glass off her."

The teens immediately helped him raise the glass up.

"I can't believe we found her!" Axel said joyfully.

"See? I told you I was smart!" Talen hassled.

"Yeah, you are. Five seconds ago, you didn't know Rian got poisoned." Axel argued.

The guys finally put the glass aside, setting the sleeping princess free. The relieved prince then faced the teens with concern, "Uh… should your friend be in this room as well?"

Axel and Talen looked around. There was no sign of Rian anywhere.

"He's nowhere to be found." Talen answered, "Where could he be?"

The guys looked around for Rian. The prince looked behind the curtains, nothing. Axel looked around the walls, nothing. Talen searched through all corners of the room. As they were searching they suddenly stopped, eyes on each other, before facing the Magic Mirror. They approached it, their reflections staring back.

"Do you think he's in there?" the Prince asked.

"Psht. Don't be silly." Talen chuckled, "People can't be trapped in mirrors."

"Obviously someone hasn't read _Through the Looking Glass_." Axel said, but then he stopped talking, bulgy-eyed, like he shouldn't have said that, "…which I never read! Psht! Scoff! Psssht!

Talen kept staring.

"What?" Axel blew, "You think I like reading? Dude, I only read Anime novels and watch Tokusatsus. They're my passions!" He then faced the camera, smiling, "Yeah, that's right!"

"Who ARE you talking to?" Talen barked.

"How about we ask for Rian's location?" the Prince asked.

The teens looked confused. How is he gonna ask a mirror to—!

"Slave in the Magic Mirror, I summon thee!" the Prince spoke to it, "Speak and let us see thy face!"

The prince's reflection suddenly vanished from the mirror, to be replaced by smokes and thunders and wheels of burning fire. The teens stepped back, jaws dropped.

"Speak!" the Prince said, "Let me see thy face!"

On cue, everything cleared up and the mirror displayed in its reflection a drama mask-like face in a dark green shady color.

"Whoa…" Talen and Axel breathed.

"Reveal to us, Magic Mirror, the location of our dear Keybearers' comrade." The Prince asked.

"What you seek, lies beyond me." The Mirror responded.

Axel and Talen looked puzzled, "What?"

"It speaks in riddles." The prince explained.

"I can see that!" Talen barked, "Gosh, I hate riddles! How are we supposed to find Rian?"

Another idea suddenly came to Axel's mind. A good one this time. He programmed his gauntlet to display a holographic vision monitor hovering around the chamber. The image made beeping sounds as it scanned the chamber for clues, a caption floated below the image saying "Searching for clues…". The image finally pointed directly at the Magic Mirror and the sound suddenly started beeping stridently. A new caption displayed below saying "1 Clue(s) Found"

"Whoa!" Axel gasped.

"What?" Talen asked.

"Look into this!"

The boys saw through the vision monitor what looked like a floating heart inside the Magic Mirror showing the reflection.

"A heart?" the Prince muttered.

Axel pushed some more buttons on his gauntlet and a new caption came up.

"That's Rian's heart!" Axel exclaimed, "Aw man. We're too late! We failed to rescue him."

The guys miserably watched the floating heart inside the mirror floating at will. No hope, no chance. They failed to rescue Rian.

"But does not the Keyblade's purpose to control hearts?" The Prince informed the teens, "Whether is it to release them or to restore them?"

Talen and Axel smiled again. "That's right!" they said together.

"The Keyblade does do that!" Talen exclaimed, "And it can reverse any spells, including freeing the heart from that mirroring prison! Thanks a lot, Princey!"

"Here let me try it." Axel volunteered. He turned to face the floating heart inside the mirror. He summoned his Keyblade.

Nothing. His Keyblade didn't come to him!

"Huh?" Axel stared at his palm, confused, "That's weird. I can't summon my Keyblade."

Talen scoffed "What? What are you talking about? Here let me try." Talen extended his hand to summon his Keyblade as well.

Nothing.

Talen gasped.

"That's troubling!" the prince sounded worried.

"We never had that problem before!" Talen exclaimed.

"Something's wrong." Axel said nervously.

"Oh, something's wrong all right." Talen exclaimed.

Axel tried transforming into his alter-ego. "HENSHIN!"

Nothing.

"What?"

"Dude! Our powers got jacked!" Talen immediately concluded.

"It's these auras around you!" The prince informed the teens, "We've been enchanted by Dark Magic! The Queen is onto us!"

"Damn these auras!" Talen snapped.

"We gotta act fast!" Axel sounded panicky, "We gotta get outta here before—!"

A corridor of darkness emerged from out of nowhere and the gang saw the Queen stepping out of it.

"…before I find you." She finished Axel's sentence. "…trespassers." The teens saw the Queen, face-to-face with them. Her face appeared just like Sierra's.

"Sierra?" Talen squinted.

The Queen revealed her true face and suddenly tossed a strong back-slap at Talen, effortlessly flinging him to a nearby wall.

"TALEN!" Axel and the Prince exclaimed.

"One thing I despise the most besides being second-most beautiful, is receiving uninvited strangers to my castle." The Queen sounded cold. "Would you like to know what I do to uninvited strangers…?" She paused before she did a quick run-through of her finger across her neck. Axel gulped.

The prince pulled out his sword, "Queen! We're not leaving here until you release the princess!"

"Release the princess?" the Queen sounded stunned, "Now why would I do that? After all, she is my stepdaughter. She's family. I am permitted to do anything to her, good… or _bad._"

"Really?" Axel said, "Then what about Sierra? Her Beauty Mark? And Rian? They're not family to you! They didn't do anything to you but you went after his Heart and her Beauty Mark anyway!"

"What can I say, hearts and beauty are precious gifts for me." The Queen smiled.

"Release Rian's Heart and Sierra's Beauty Mark, or else!" Axel threatened before trying to transform again, "HENSHIN!"

Nothing.

"Aw COME ON!"

The Queen menacingly approached.

"Oh, so the Keybearers cannot transform?" the Queen chuckled, "How scintillating. I shall thank my assistance Sage for discovering your weak point."

"Sage…" Talen muttered as he was cringing back to his feet, "…one of the Blackhearts? Dang her!"

"Now I believe it's time for me to give you what you most deserve!" the Queen hissed before she started breathing heavily, giving away a strange violet aura around her. Suddenly she screamed, "KYAAAAAH!!!" And her body suddenly, yet in a grotesque way, morphed into a massive vulture. The heroes started backing off.

"…your ultimate punishment!! By the power of Darkness! Eternal darkness! Seal of eternity from the grave of all Keyblade Masters! I SUMMON THEE!!!"

She then let out a strident vulture cry before facing the Magic Mirror. The mirror suddenly glowed, and suddenly a hole ripped off the mirror in response to the vulture cry, turning it dark and gooey, like heartlesses were forming there. But it wasn't heartless. It looked like a Void; and the guys could tell it from the breezy suction they felt coming from the mirror, trying to suck them in. The guys all grasped on heavy pillars around the chamber to keep themselves from getting sucked in, but they couldn't hold on much longer as they felt their feet no longer touching the ground and were instead pointing toward the Void, which was trying to rip them off their hinges with such powerful force.

The guys freaked out as they watched everything—the spellbooks, potions and brews, even the sleeping Snow White—helplessly getting sucked into the void in the form of ball of lights.

"PRINCESS!" The prince yelled.

"NO!" Axel and Talen exclaimed.

The Vulture Queen glided around the teens as she let out a squawking laugh, her beady blood-red colored eyes in full control of the Void.

"PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM, HEROES OF THE LIGHT! SQUIRM! SCREAM!" the Vulture Queen squawked.

"Do not give up, valiant heroes!" the prince yelled out, "Stay true to your heart!"

"But we won't make it!" Axel yelled, "The Void! It's too strong!!"

"Where is help when we need them?" Talen barked.

The void suddenly turned violent. The vulture cackled as the guys screamed piercing cries of help. Axel couldn't hang much longer.

"Hang on, Axel!" Talen yelled to his friend.

"I CAN'T MAN!" Axel exclaimed, before Void finally sucked him in. "WHOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Nothing you can do, worms! NOTHING!" The Vulture hissed, hovering tauntingly besides the Prince. The prince grunted, trying to hang on just a bit longer for his dear life and trying not to get distracted by the Vulture Queen.

"Time to part!"She hissed before striking the prince full-force on his side, forcing him to let go. The Prince got sucked into Void, screaming.

Talen managed to grasp tightly onto the pillar, securing himself from the sucking Void. But the Vulture Queen had his eyes on him. She started hovering around him.

"Did I not just say that it was time to part?" the Vulture squawked, gliding around Talen at such fast pace that he got distracted and couldn't keep track of where she was. She was like an annoying giant fly!

"Screw you! I'm not leaving here until you get my friends back, the princess, and Sierra's Beauty Mark, you feathered bird fry!" Talen insulted.

"So you insult your Queen, moody worm?" the vulture hissed, "That does not matter either way, you will perish by MY POWERS!" she batted her wings to fly up a corner of the room, beak targeting Talen.

"HEY, where are you going? What…!" Talen stopped talking as he stared hopelessly at the queen. He knew what she was about to do, "Oh, hell no! You are not—!"

"TIME TO _PART_!!"

"NO!" Talen screamed as the vulture dove toward the pillar and with her beak, she effortlessly ripped the pillar off its roots. The pillar got sucked into Void, and so did Talen. Talen screamed until his visions got completely blurred out to complete darkness.

"Talen!"

Talen's eyes flew open. He stared across his surroundings. He was not in Void!

He was back at the Queen's Castle's West Wing with Axel and the Prince!

Apparently the teens have not reached the Queen's secret chamber yet, and already Talen felt like he's about to relive a horrible nightmare again.

"Huh? Wh-what?" he mumbled.

"Didn't you hear me? I can't believe Matt puts you in charge of leading this group!" Axel complained, "You are too reckless to be a leader, man!"

"Really?" Talen said, "So you'd rather have yourself being the—?" Talen stopped talking, "HEY! WAIT A MINUTE! Didn't we already have that conversation before?"

Axel faced the prince for his opinion. The prince looked just as confused as Axel.

"Uh, no?" Axel responded, "Dude! You're so trying to avoid the subject!" He then formed a mischievous grin before acting all innocently, "And just for that, I believe I'm gonna be leading this group, so I'm going in!"

"NO!" Talen barred Axel's path with his arm, before pulling out a penny from his pocket and tossed it to the trapped floor Axel was about to step onto. The coin suddenly glowed as the magical seal formed before the teens and the prince in a radiant light. Axel who was close on contact with the seal jumped back. "Whoa!"

The coin and the seal finally vanished in a blinding curtain of light that forced the teens and the prince to shield their eyes for a second.

"A trap!" The Prince muttered.

"How did—!" Axel gasped.

"It's more like a teleportation sigil." Talen revealed, "That thing was gonna take us straight to Rian and Snow White."

"WHAT?" Axel and the prince exclaimed.

"And you idiot stopped us?" Axel complained.

"If you would lemme finish!" Talen interrupted, "That thing was gonna take us straight to Rian and Snow White, at the expense of our powers and our Keyblades."

"Whoa!" Axel shuddered at the thought.

"So you're saying that if you had stepped foot onto that sigil," the prince said, "we would have found the princess and your friend; but we wouldn't…"

"…stand a chance against the Queen." Talen revealed, "That sigil was a trap for us from Sage."

"Dude!" Axel grabbed Talen by the shoulders, "You're a lifesaver! How'd you know that?"

Talen snootily raised his chin up, "From being smart!" he lied, "That's right! _I'm_ the brain in this operation here!" he tapped his head with his finger, "It's no wonder Matt put _me_ in charge now! Mmh-Hmm!"

Axel stopped smiling and frowned, "Grr…"

"Now, follow me like my good soldiers, in finding that nanny and give her a complete makeover! Oh, and by the way, you owe me a penny."

Talen proceeded down the wing and the prince followed with full-confidence. Axel followed behind, still irritated, "_Follow me_ _like my good soldiers_! _You owe me a penny_!Pfft… haughty bastard."

**xXx**

Talen, Axel, and the Prince reached the Queen's Chamber… the old fashioned way.

"We're here!" Talen exclaimed.

"Where is the princess?" the Prince asked.

"Let's transform first before we find them!" Talen proposed.

"Transform?" Axel raised an eyebrow. Talen transformed to Blazen without hesitation. Then Axel followed, transforming to Sharx.

"Now onto finding the captives." Blazen faced the Prince, "Princey," he pointed him the covered coffin, "See this white sheet over something heavy? Snow White is in there!"

"What?" the prince exclaimed before going for it. He pulled out the white sheet and saw Snow White inside the coffin. "Princess!" he exclaimed before uttering a simple whisper. "My love! She's here…" he then faced the teens, "Help me get this—"

Blazen pointed his Keyblade at the glass cover of Snow White's coffin and it vanished in sparkles.

"…glass off her?" The stunned prince finished his sentence.

"Okay. How could you have possibly known that Snow White would be IN there?" Sharx asked suspiciously but Blazen wasn't listening. Blazen then went for the Magic Mirror, pointed his Keyblade at the Mirror. The mirror revealed Rian's Heart.

"…and Rian's Heart here?" Sharx added, staring in awe.

"Heart of Pure Bravery. Be reborn into your Dweller, I command thee!" Blazen chanted before muttering, "Gosh I hate speaking in rhyme." He then yelled out to the duo, "Stand back!"

Light started flashing from the Keyblade and so did Rian's heart in response. A great wind started blowing across the chamber as the heart symbol with the spikes—the symbol of Terra—suddenly appeared beneath Blazen. A beam shot out of the Keyblade and struck the mirror. An explosion of light took over the chamber.

Moments after, the light was gone as Rian's heart emerged out of the mirror to everyone's amazement. The heart slowly faded out as Rian himself started fading in. The teen hero was still unconscious. Everyone gathered around him.

"Rian?" Sharx spoke, hoping to get an answer.

Rian's eyes flew open and the teen let out a sharp gasp. He quickly sat up like he just had a nightmare, breathing heavily.

"Whoa!" Sharx exclaimed, "You're awake!"

Rian tried to speak but couldn't, like he was out of breath.

"He's not 100 percent yet. His heart just got restored in him. Give him some time." Blazen informed.

"Seriously. How did you know how to restore his heart?" Sharx asked desperately.

"Boy, you do ask a lot of questions huh?" Blazen asked back, "And seriously, of all the hours you've spent playing the game, you never restored the heart of a Keybearer?"

Sharx hesitated, "Uh…"

"It's like one of the main quests in the game!"

"Okay, you know what? Don't rub it in." Sharx mumbled.

"Guys…" Rian tried to speak but the guys weren't listening.

"I'm not rubbing anything. I'm telling the truth. But if you want some rubbin'…"

"Dude!"

"Guys…"

"Hey, you're the one who asked for it!"

"Do you want me to kick your ass?!" Sharx threatened before transforming his Keyblade into a gun, "Cuz I can."

"Bring it, greenie boy!" Blazen laughed, "HA! HA! Get it? Greenie boy? Cuz you're jealous?"

"GUYS!"

The teens finally turned to Rian, "What?!" they yelled.

Rian pointed behind them, "We got company."

They turned around and they saw the Queen, standing with the unconscious prince on the ground.

"One thing I despise the most besides being second-most beautiful, is receiving uninvited strangers to my castle." The Queen sounded just as cold as in Talen's vision. "Would you like to know what I do to uninvited strangers…?"

"Of course," Blazen formed a smile, "but do you know what we do to villains who are messing with our friends?"

Blazen took focus on the Queen with his gauntlet. Just as he was about to unleash his Focus Mode attack, a sword was heard running through the Queen. The Queen gasped sharply, before falling to her knees and collapsed. The prince was behind her with his sword in hand, to the teens' amazement.

"…They meet their ends." The prince sounded as if finishing Blazen's sentence.

"HEEY!" Blazen whined, "I wanted to roast her dangit!"

The door to the chamber then busted open and Cross, Flora and the dwarves barged inside. The dwarves were yelling, "Don't cross the Queen! It's a trap!"

They saw the Queen on the ground, unresponsive.

"I guess it wasn't a trap." Cross muttered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**On the Next upcoming Chapters of KH3 Online HD  
**_(Scenes subject to change in the episodes)_

"It appears that one of these Keybearers now possesses a hidden power." One of the Blackhearts said, "The power to see the future."

xXx

"We are locked from outside the Kingdom Hearts Universe." Terra informed the Keybearers, "We can't go back there anymore."

xXx

_Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon… you will dread the day of my return._

xXx

"You killed my brother! And now I'm going to kill you!" Death-Scythe yelled out before taking another swing of her death-scythe at her opponent.

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**Next Chapter**:: _I Shall Return  
_


	12. Ep10: I Shall Return

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**I Shall Return**-**_

* * *

Back at Midlight City High School,

Taylor has watched the event back at Dwarf Woodlands and she cheerfully pumped her fist in the air when she saw the message on her PSP screen saying ___You Earned the Beauty Mark!_, "All right! They did it!" she squealed.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Let's meet up with our finalists!" Taylor heard Tidus cheerfully announcing the results back at the auditorium stage. She peeked in to see who got the spot. Tidus said a bunch of names like Amanda, Desiree, Tenisha, etc. She even heard the name she hated the most: Milene Vitali (a popular cheerleader, rival of Sierra).

…then she heard him say, "Sierra Stellaserah!" and the crowd went wild.

"WHOOHOO!" Taylor cheered, "You go girl!"

Despite the praises she was getting from the crowd, Sierra appeared sad and unsure of herself.

"NOW," Tidus shouted, "Who would like to say a few words to their fans about this ahh-mazing chance at winning? Anyone? C'mon! There's gotta be _someone_!"

Sierra snatched the mic from Tidus and spoke, "I'm sorry everybody! I can't do this!"

The crowd gasped at that statement before they went dead silent.

"What?" Taylor screamed, "What's she doing?"

Sierra went on, "I can't go on further into this pageant! I lied to you! I'm not the Sierra you know and love right now! This isn't my real face. I'm wearing a mask!"

The crowd stood silent.

"What are you doing, woman?" Taylor harshly hissed, "You're throwing your chance at winning down the _freaking_ fire!"

Milene Vitali approached Sierra and provocatively asked, "So, you're saying you're a phony?" she gloated, "Ah! Can you believe that people? Sierra Stellaserah is a fake! Popular and fake! Not so surprising isn't it?"

Chatters and sound of disappointment raised from the crowd. Tidus shook his head, "That's impossible. Sierra can't be wearing a mask, right?" Tidus faced the judges, Zidane, Selphie and Lightning. They all looked puzzled, "Of course not!" he added, "You can only see people wearing masks in movies."

"No really I am!" Sierra insisted.

"Sierra!" Taylor hissed to her friend to shut up but Sierra dismissed her.

"If you don't believe me, I'll show you!" Sierra went for her face.

"EEEK!" Taylor gasped and covered her eyes with her hands, just as Sierra was peeling off the mask she was wearing. The crowd gasped in horror at what they saw: the real Sierra!

Silence fell in the auditorium as everyone stared at the perky blonde's real face.

The crowd went wild again! Wild with excitement and wolf whistling.

"Whoa!" Tidus exclaimed, "If that's the real Sierra, I gotta tell ya man, that girl is no ugly duckling! She's _HOT_!"

Taylor hesitantly opened her eyes to see why the crowd was not crying out in horror. Turns out, they saw Sierra's _real _face! No longer the witch with the curvy nose and pimple-covered mug, but the blonde girl with highlights and perky blue eyes! Her smile grew widely.

"ALL RIGHT SIERRA!" she squealed, applauding among the crowd.

"HEY!" Milene Vitali squealed, "Why are you people cheering? Why all the freaking cheers? She was wearing a MASK! She's supposed to be disqualified! That's part of the Homecoming Rule book!"

"That's the rules yes!" Tidus answered, "But the rules state to eliminate _ugly_ girls wearing masks. Clearly, Sierra didn't break the rules since well… she ain't ugly! Right judges?" Tidus turned to face the three judges: Selphie, Zidane, and Lightning.

"Totally hot!" Zidane agreed, pulling out a 'You Rock' sign.

"She's so beautiful, I feel like crying!" Selphie chocked up.

"Dazzling is an understatement." Lightning said without a even a smirk.

Tidus faced the competitive girl and shrugged, "There you have it!"

"Aw, COME ON!" Milene screamed. Sierra approached her with a gloating expression, "Sorry girl. Hate to crush your dreams, but I'm still in the runway."

"AUGH!" the girl stormed out as the crowd kept on showering Sierra with praises. Sierra cheerfully waved back.

**xXx**

Though things went fine at Midlight City, things wasn't all pretty festive back at the Queen's Castle in Dwarf Woodlands.

"Princess!" The prince rushed over to Snow White's coffin, so did the dwarves and the heroes. They saw her beautiful face was completely pale.

"She's not waking up!" Bashful exclaimed.

Doc turned to the heroes' attention, "Can you do something? You've got to wake her up!"

All the dwarves faced the heroes while Dopey nodded desperately to them with a sad face.

"Okay, okay, we'll try!" Rian said before bringing up his Keyblade, "Keyblade's up, everyone!"

The Keybearers all raised their weapons upwards and together their light rays escaped, weaving to form a spectacular ball of light show. Snow White's body glowed in response. But the princess herself was irresponsive.

"She shouldn't be like this! She should have woken up." Matt said.

"You should have known the answer to this question, meddlesome fools." The voice of the Queen startled the gang. They all turned around and they saw her standing before them, unharmed and her face returned to normal. The teens prepared for combat.

"You!" Axel said, "We thought you were—!"

"Dead?" the Queen slightly chuckled, "Only darkness and greed brought me back to life."

"What have you done to Snow White?" the Prince demanded.

"What have _you _done to my Beauty Mark?" the Queen hissed, "You took it away from me! And just like you did to it, I took Snow White away from you."

"_That_ Beauty Mark didn't belong to you." Pierre exclaimed.

"Wrong answer." The Queen raised her arms up and a wave of darkness took over the castle in a powerful wind gust, so strong it made everyone flinch, "You have something that belongs to me!"

"Then come and get it!" Talen raised his Keyblade up and rushed toward the Queen with a battle cry.

"Talen, no!" Rian yelled out. Talen swung. The Queen vanished. She reappeared behind Talen—as a Vulture. She charged toward him and mercilessly struck him in a multiple-hit combo frenzy that ended with him flung to a wall. The vulture then faced the heroes and shrieked. The dwarves panicked, and the prince readied his sword, defending Snow White and the dwarves.

"Go! Leave this beast in our hands!" Matt ordered the prince and the dwarves before facing Rian, "And so should you, Rian!"

"Hey, who made you leader?" Rian exclaimed.

Matt faced Rian again. Rian looked at the other Keybearers and noticed they were giving him the same look.

"Fine." He sighed and then was turning around, when the Vulture cried out. She went charging toward Rian who nimbly dodged her tackle. They watched her gliding around the ceiling. Rian let out a sigh of relief, "Phew! That was a close one, wouldn't you say?"

"Watch out!" Talen shouted.

The vulture dashed toward everyone and finally grabbed Rian up, carrying him through the ceiling and into the air. Rian screamed at a distance.

"RIAN!" Everyone shouted.

"Magic Mirror! Let me see thy might!" The vulture ordered and the Magic Mirror smoke-screened the chamber, blinding everyone. The dwarves panicked some more.

"Where is the Queen? WHERE IS THE QUEEEEEN?!" Sneezy quivered.

The creepy voices of the vulture and the magic mirror's face felt like Halloween on Death Street. The smoke cleared up and they were in a dark void arena where the Magic Mirror's face suddenly surrounded everyone; its face multiplied, cornered them, and twirled around them. Now they felt like inside the House of Mirrors.

"I'm scared! I'm so scared!" Happy cried out so did the rest of the dwarves, and Dopey rolled into an armadillo defense stance, trembling.

The faces morphed into one and laughed, _GWOOH! OH! OH! OH!_

"Don't worry I'll protect you." Talen said, stepping back and conjured his Keyblade, "Fira!"

A powerful energy ball of Fira shot from his Keyblade and nailed the Magic Mirror, only to make it reappear again behind him. Talen faced it again and shot Fira again, nailing it a second time. It reappeared again in another direction. He kept shooting his attacks but the Mirror kept teleporting at every hit.

_GWOOH! OH! OH! OH!_

"It's no use!" Axel said.

The Mirror's eyes suddenly flashed and the heroes helplessly got forced on their knees, unable to move. Their Keyblades vanished at will.

"Ngh… wh… what…?" Matt grunted.

"I c-can't move…" Talen grunted.

"Wh—what do you… ugh… t-think?" Violet grunted.

"Keyblade Magic…" Axel grunted, "that m-mirror can… ngh… d-do that too…"

_As your will be done, Your Majesty, I shall finish them_… The mirror moaned before splitting into multiple faces and provocatively twirled around the teens until they morphed together again into one giant horror mug, staring down from above like a god. Its mouth opened and a beam was charging.

"Don't hurt my comrades!" The prince charged toward the mirror and the mirror shot its power beam. The prince raised his sword to block. The beam forced on the prince. The prince put all his strength on his sword and managed to reflect the beam. The beam slammed onto the mirror's face and an explosion took place, overwhelming the dark place they were in.

Everything returned to normal and the mirror was no more, the prince was exhausted, and the Keybearers and the dwarves stood in silence.

"Whoa…" Dopey spoke.

"Snow White!" The prince put his sword back in its place and rushed over to his princess. Everyone gathered around her glass coffin. She wasn't responsive at all.

"She is really gone." Pierre solemnly said.

"That poor girl…" Violet felt tears in her eyes as the dwarves silently wept. The heroes stood there in silence as well. After such moment, the prince added, "You may be gone. But you will always be my princess. Always my love."

With these words, he leaned over to the princess and gave her a kiss. Suddenly the princess's body's glow, returning the fresh color of life back into her skin. The princess's eyes slowly rose to everyone's surprise.

Snow White looked over to the joyous prince.

"My love!" he gasped.

"You're here." She said with a smile, "My prince. I knew you'd come… someday."

The two shared another kiss. The dwarves even the heroes fluttered. "aww…"

Pierre saw Talen making a strange face. "Talen?" he sounded surprised.

"Hrrmh?!"

"Are you… crying?"

Talen quickly wiped a tear with his arm, "Allergies! Sniff…" his voice broke, "They're really strong this _year_!!"

"Aw… Talen's a softie." Violet giggled.

"Yeah, who knew?" Axel grinned.

"Shut up…" Talen mumbled and everyone laughed…

…but the joy quickly got short-lived!

CAAAW hAW HAW HAW HAW! The vulture was heard laughing.

GUYS HEEELP! Rian is heard from a distance.

"RIAN!" the gang exclaimed.

"Come on, let's go rescue him!" Matt ordered, "Rian needs our help!" And everyone rushed out of the castle, after the flying vulture. The prince spotted a set of horses ready to be ridden by the castle's main entry. "We'll take the horses!" he proposed.

"Really?" Talen frowned, not liking the idea.

"It's much faster! Let's go!" the prince said and they all went by horses. As for the dwarves they whistled and they summoned many of the woodland creatures to help them in the pursuit.

They were halfway down the cliff when Pierre's cellphone rang. He picked it up, "Hello?"

It was Sierra, "Oh my gosh, Pierre! You guys are lifesavers!" she sounded excited. She was with Taylor, surrounded by thousands of students wanting to get an autograph. She felt like a rockstar, wearing her Beauty Pageant tiara and fluffly pink winning scarf over her beautiful pageant dress, "Thanks to you guys, I won the Beauty Pageant and got a spot for Homecoming Queen! Now I can hardly wait to win it. Totally cool, right?"

"Hey, I helped too y'know?" Taylor complained, carrying with her a pile of autographed pictures of Sierra.

"SIERRA! As fantastic as that sounds, why are you calling?! This is a bad time!" Pierre exclaimed.

Sierra's smiling face vanished, "Bad time? Are you…" her looked grimed up all of the sudden, "Oh my gosh! Are you cheating on me?"

"What?" Pierre exclaimed, "Why would I cheat on you?!"

"Because you're not being serious?" Sierra jumped to conclusion.

"The queen vulture has captured Rian and is dangling him over a cliff before us! How's _that_ for serious!" Pierre revealed.

"WHAT?" Sierra exclaimed.

Taylor finally reached her friend, "Sierra! What are you doing on the phone instead of helping me with your fans?"

Sierra faced Taylor, "Rian's in trouble!"

Taylor couldn't feel her legs, "He's _always_ in trouble." She cringed, "I am _now_ in trouble. So can you…?"

"No. I mean he's _really _in trouble! The queen has carried him over a cliff ready to kill him!"

Taylor threw the pile of autographed pics over the students, "WHAT??!" she screamed before dragging Sierra away from the now-turning student mob and dashed out of the school.

Back at Dwarf Woodlands, the heroes finally reached the mountain cliff where the Vulture stopped, air-bound two thousand feet over it. Rian, being deathly afraid of heights, started shaking.

"Oh please ma'am! Please! Don't do this to me man! I'm—!"

The vulture quickly zoomed a few feet down and quickly went back up, scaring Rian, "WHOA! Don't do this!" he screamed.

CAAAW hAW HAW HAW HAW! The vulture squawked again, "Deathly afraid of height are you? You're not as valiant as he said!"

"He?" Rian asked, looking over to the queen from eye's corner, "Who's he? And I am SO valiant for your information! Have you seen my criminal records lately?"

The gang stopped by the cliff to face the vulture.

"Stop right there and drop this guy right now!" Talen threatened the vulture.

"DROP?!" Rian exclaimed, "Learn your words Talen! HELLOOOO?"

The teens tried to conjure their Keyblades but it didn't respond. Matt concluded, "It's no use guys. We can't call on our weapons."

"Or transform." Talen angrily added, "Damn it."

"Oh, so the famous Keybearers cannot transform again huh?" the Queen chuckled, "How scintillating. I shall thank my assistance—!"

"Sage for discovering our weak point?" Talen interrupted her, "Yeah, we heard you the first time!"

Everyone huddled together, "There has to be a way to get Rian to safety."

"But how can we do that when our powers got muted?" Pierre asked.

"I know what we're gonna do?" Doc said, before facing the dwarves, "Gentlemen? Heigh-Hoooo!"

The dwarves and the woodland creatures gathered together, singing their all-famous tune.

"Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho- Heigh-ho- Heigh-ho!" They started gathering a pile of rocks for projectile and finally faced the Queen. "Aim!" Doc ordered and all took position, rocks in hand ready to fling them at the Queen.

"HEY!" Rian screamed at them, "You guys drop these rocks right now! This is bad move! Bad!"

The dwarves and the creatures lowered their weapons.

"DO WHAT YOU WANT WITH ME!" The Queen hissed at the heroes, loosely dangling Rian to his death, "TAKE ME DOWN ANYTIME! And I will take _him_ down with me to HELL!!"

"Not so fast!"

Everyone heard that familiar voice and they turned around to see Sierra as Ciel. Ciel took focus on the Queen with her water-made harp, and drew with the harp strings a dozen of ice picks.

"Time to sing a lullaby!" Ciel said before shooting the ice picks from her harp in a flourishing note. The vulture's eyes glowed on the ice picks and they turned around to face Ciel. They went straight for her. "EEEEEK!"

Soledad suddenly appeared in front of her and waved her hand to create a Reflect shield in bright fire color. The ice picks crashed into the shield and the shield vanished before displaying light shows around the Queen, reflecting her counter attack. The wounded vulture suddenly let go of Rian who started falling down. "Waaaaaaaaaah!"

Everyone panicked. Just as Rian was about to land onto the rocky bottom, he stopped. Like as if time has stopped him. Strangely he felt an enchanted aura surrounding him and he started floating back to shore where everyone watched in awe the person doing this spell.

"Snow White…" they gasped. Snow White had her eyes closed, her right hand reaching out toward Rian, her left hand over her heart.

"She… she rescued Rian…" Talen looked surprised.

"Unbelievable…" Matt breathed.

"Whoa…" everyone else oohed.

"Impossible!" the vulture hissed.

The stunned Rian was brought back safely to shore and everyone rushed over to see if he was okay. He was, just as surprised as they were.

"You… you saved me." Rian said to the princess.

"You really did, Snow White. Thank you." Matt complimented.

"How did—?" Talen looked confused.

"The power of the heart!" The vulture said, catching all attention, "So gentle, so pure, so innocent! I. Want. That POWER!"

Snow White angrily faced the Queen, "You will never get this power! It is precious to me and my friends. You may hurt me all you like. But I will never, ever let you lay a finger on them!"

With these words, Snow White directed her arm toward the Vulture Queen and a blinding Holy light emitted inside the vulture's body. The vulture screamed, "What's happening to me? NGYOOOOOOOOOO!"

The Holy Light exploded, taking over the skies and the entire Woodlands in a flash. The light quickly faded, and the Queen was no more. The Woodland was now raining bits of magic light and in response the Keybearers' weapons returned to the heroes.

"Hey, we got our powers back!" Axel said.

"We did it!" Talen said.

"No, _she_ did it." Matt said before facing Snow White, "She defeated the Queen."

Snow White faintly smiled before fainting. Everyone gathered around her to see if she was okay. She was. She only fell asleep after unleashing such massive power.

**xXx**

Few hours passed and Snow White had recovered. She and the prince happily announced their engagement at the Queen's Castle, now Snow White's Castle. The young couple has of course invited the dwarves and everyone else who were dear to the princess and the prince to the ceremony, including the Keybearers. It was now time to go for the newly engaged couple, and the prince has prepared his horse for his beloved Snow White so that they together will set out for their new home.

"I must thank you all for your help." Snow White complimented the teens, "You have been very grateful to me, to my dear friends, and to my prince."

"Aw, shucks." Rian grinned.

"And I must thank you for helping me rescue the fair princess." The prince complimented the teens, "If it was not for you, I would not be here."

"Aw, shucks." Axel grinned also.

"And we must thank you for saving the princess!" Doc complimented the teens on his dwarf family's behalf, "And sorry for doubting you that you were the bad guys!"

"Actually, that was me." The prince admitted.

"Okay, okay!" Violet waved her hand in dismissal, "Enough of the whole 'thank you' business already! We didn't do anything, really! You guys did it with only our help."

"Yeah, the prince saved us from a Mirror and the princess saved us from a vulture. How weird is that when we're supposed to be heroes?" Axel said.

"Heroes? Try weakling." Talen provoked. "Shut up." Axel muttered.

"Guys, be nice." Sierra said, trying not to laugh too much.

"I hope we get to be at the wedding." Rian said.

"As long as there's fine cider, I'm there!" Taylor added. Then Sierra giggled excitedly, "Ooh! I _looove_ fine cider. Did I mention it's gonna be my winning drink for my pageant?"

"Actually no drinks for her!" Pierre pointed at Sierra. "HEY!" Sierra didn't find it amusing.

"I was about to say that!" Taylor said and Sierra screamed, "HEY!" at her and everyone laughed along.

Suddenly the Keyhole Portal emerged from behind the teens, catching everyone's attention.

"Goodness, what is it?" Happy wondered.

"The Keyhole Portal." Matt responded, before facing everyone.

"I guess it's time to head home." Rian said.

And so the prince, Snow White, and everyone in the Dwarf Woodlands went on their separate ways after bidding each other farewell. With the lovely princess and the valiant prince ready to live happily ever after, the teens' long-waging adventures were only the beginning.

**xXx**

Once the teens entered through the portal heading back home, the portal, instead of vanishing at will, vanished into someone's hand! Someone in a dark-robed Armani coat: a Blackheart! His face was still under the hood.

"Hmm… interesting twist of fate." He spoke in a young husky voice, "We have a Princess who uses the power of light inside her heart to her advantage, and it appears that one of these Keybearers now possesses a hidden power: the power to see the future."

He drew from out of thin air a figurine of Talen.

"Of course," he continued, "he's keeping it to himself, what will happen if that secret gets revealed?" he paused for a second, then conjured up a figure of Matt, "As for him…" he muttered, staring coldly at that figure, "to betray us like that… the lowest of lows."

He paused again, before fading out the two figures, "No time to waste. Must haste to get them busted. And the plan shall be set in motion."

**xXx**

Not far from the woods were the teens were, Donald saw Goofy sitting on a rock, and he could hear him whimpering and sniffling. He slowly approached him, surprised. He never heard Goofy cry before.

"Goofy?" he asked warily.

"When Terra told me, I didn't look like this." Goofy paused briefly, "I was worse than how I looked now."

Goofy was staring at a picture of himself, Donald, and their friend. He sniffled, "Just thinking about it was unbearable." He muttered, "And what was worse, he was this close to be crowned prince of the Realm of Light… and now he's gone."

"And now the King's missing." Donald sighed.

There was a moment of silence. Donald sighed, "Goofy, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Donald." Goofy protested, "I should have told you."

"No, Goofy." Donald countered, "It was my fault. I was a jerk for jumping on you. I wasn't paying attention on how you truly felt."

Goofy turned to face Donald. He was a mess just thinking about it. Donald went on, "I was just being a jerk, thinking about my feelings and not yours."

Goofy stared at the picture once more. So did Donald.

"Sora was a good friend." Goofy said, revealing the name of their friend they've lost.

"Yeah, he was." Donald replied, "He was a pain in the butt when it comes to piloting the Gummi Ship."

Goofy chuckled slightly and Donald smiled, "…but he was a good friend."

"And you know what's weird? We lose something dear, and then suddenly we gain something greater! Like those Keybearers… and Terra!" Goofy revealed.

"And you know what's even weirder?" Donald said, "Johnny kinda reminds me of Sora!"

"Gawrsh. That's because he looks like him with the spiky hair and all!"

Donald looked around, "Where are they anyway?"

"Didn't they tell you?" the devious husky voice of the unknown Blackheart member caught their attention. Donald and Goofy turned around to be greeted by a gust of wind, materializing into the Blackheart member seen earlier. He removed his hood to reveal his cocky face with violet spiky hair like Org XIII's member VIII's Axel. Donald and Goofy quickly stood alert.

"Blackheart!" Donald quacked. The two friends unleashed their weapons, posing for combat.

"Now why do we have to fight when we can just talk about busting your little Keybearers troublemaking friends here?" he spoke.

"Because you're trouble?" Donald exclaimed.

"What about our friends?" Goofy asked.

"Didn't they briefly talk about ditching their mission just so they could go back to their real world to attend some uh… I dunno, pageant thingy?"

"WHAT?!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed.

"Yeahh…" he prolonged, "I guess it has to do with something far more important than defeating Blackhearts like I dunno, helping a girl out with her beauty drama?"

"Those guys!" Donald grumbled, before facing Goofy, "We gotta go get them, Goofy!"

"Ruuh-ight behind ya, Donald!" Goofy said, and the two friends teleported by Donald's Staff.

The blackheart smiled, "And you ain't coming back."

He waved his hand over the sky to make a Keyhole Portal appear magically. He waved his hand around The Keyhole Portal again as if erasing, and the portal disintegrated in response.

"Good bye, Keybearers." He then faced Snow White's Castle from a distance, "Hello, Heart of Pure Light."

Suddenly Sage appeared behind the Blackheart member; "Enjoying your moment, Phantamis?" she called him.

The Blackheart Phantamis almost screamed, surprised by Sage's sudden appearance. He held on his heart, "Can you like ever stop doing that?"

"I find it _fun_-tertaining." She replied.

"Look woman, your plan failed, a'ight? Why do you care so much on… I dunno… what I wanna do?"

"Because it's not what you want to do. It's what we've been scheming together as a team." Sage said, "And besides, the Queen…" she scoffed, "she was weak and frail. Too pathetic to play a huge role in this."

"You call a two-hundred twelve pound vulture who's been torturing these freaks, weak and frail?" Phantamis laughed, "You're sad."

"Let's just go over the plan," Sage said before smiling at the thought. "I can smell sweet and sour victory for us. Sweet and sour."

**xXx**

Maurchel entered a secluded chamber highly similar to the Room of Sleep. He stood there, staring at a pair of white gloves sitting quietly on a silver pedestal. The gloves suddenly glowed and levitated from the pedestal. The gloves then released a shadow. The shadow quickly unleashed its darkness around the room, completely enveloping it. The shadow itself formed a figure and it faced Maurchel. Maurchel, with his creepiest bony smile, greeted the shadow.

"Good to see you again…" He said, "… Father."

The shadow had blinking yellow eyes, a head shaped like a pointed skeleton skull, a once-well-respected figure the shadow had. That shadow had the striking resemblance of the most feared of our thirteen Keybearers and previous enemy of Terra.

Master Xehanort!

Thunder flashed across the room, illuminating the shadow and revealing his scary eyes, shining brighter at every flash of lightning.

Rian's eyes flew open and he rose himself from bed, almost screaming and sweating excessively as if he was in a sauna.

He quickly looked around then stared at the moonlit sky, before realizing it was only a bad dream…

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******Now accepting mortals… check out the newly updated "Intro to Original Characters" Chapter for more info.**

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******Next Chapter**:: ___Nightmare in the Form of Nix_


	13. Ep11: Nightmare in the Form of Nix

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

**Author's Note: **This is the longest episode I've done. I'm bound to make more like this in the near future. Now I'm sure you were all expecting a new episode this coming November, but I prefer choosing this particular time, just in time for Halloween. Also consider this the November episode.

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**Nightmare in the Form of Nix**-**_

* * *

The girl who now rivals Sierra for the Homecoming Queen position at the upcoming ball—her name again was Milene Vitali—was not a Keybearer. Nor was she a KH Player, like many of the mortals in this story. She was the most popular girl at Midlight City High School. Now second to Sierra. She was more popular than Matt Salazar and Talen Brightfire. One thing Milene hated the most was not getting things her way. Losing the pageant to Sierra and getting easy spot to the Homecoming crown during the upcoming dance was one of the many things that she hated; tasting the sweet taste of losing. But Milene was fully determined to see Sierra go down.

She secretly got an anonymous letter to meet with someone mysterious so late at night. It wasn't signed, but as head cheerleader of the school's football team you would think she was smart enough _not_ to take it.

Wrong.

That night she went down the school's basement and entered an abandoned hallway.

"Uh… hello?" she called out, now feeling regret to have come here. The place gave her the creeps. Spider webs everywhere and broken tables and chairs all piled up together, used gums, trashes on the floor with stinking odor from whatever years ago it was… it was just gross! And the place was completely dark, except showing the faintest ray of moonlight through its narrow windows.

Milene's heart kept jumping at every step she took. She finally took a step backward, and turned around ready to leave this dump. A spider heartless zipped past her, causing her to shriek. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

She turned around and saw a face.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"

A hand slammed over her mouth. The girl stopped shrieking. She saw who it was: Naraku 'Death-Scythe' Shinigami, Kami's Keybearer alter-ego. sporting a black-buttoned trench coat, black shoes with white straps, white gloves; and under her trench coat were short dark blue jean shorts, and a black shirt with a white "soul logo" (from the anime _Soul Eater_) on it. The girl had shoulder-length snow-white hair and her eyes were as red as a crimson stone. Of course, Milene didn't know that.

"SHH!" Death-Scythe hushed at her, her hand still on Milene's mouth. Milene blinked, tears ready to leave her eyes.

"Don't… make… … …a sound." Death-Scythe whispered threateningly. With one eye's corner, she stared at Nix who was standing behind her. Milene too glanced over at the creature. Nix the Blackheart was in his true form: Nix Assassin Mode. He was skinny, just like his creepy flesh-eating self, but he donned a completely black ninja outfit that seemed to cover him from head to toe. He sported many ninja daggers and looked like he was ready to commit murder to anyone at any second. He also had piranha teeth around his face, where his mouth should be. Picture him as a Vanitas wannabee.

Milene then stared at Death-Scythe. Death-Scythe let go of Milene.

"Who is this?" Milene whimpered, nudging her head slightly and cowardly toward Nix.

"My assistance." Death-Scythe replied, "Do not worry. He would not hurt a fly…"

On cue, Nix watched a fly buzzing around him and on cue, it stuck its tongue out like a frog and gulped the fly to Milene's horror.

"…he will hurt a _heart_." Death-Scythe added.

"Gulp."

"But you're an exception, as you will do me a favor."

"Forget it!" Milene snapped. She turned around and saw Nix Vers.2, also known as Nix Creepy Mode (the Nix that look like the flesh-eating creature) blocking her path. Milene shrieked again. Death-Scythe put Milene on chokehold and raised her Death-Scythe weapon over the cheerleader's neck threateningly.

"I told you… do not make a sound. Do you understand?"

Milene quickly nodded.

"Now." Death-Scythe released Milene. The two girls faced each other, "Like I said I need you to do me a favor."

"Gulp."

**xXx**

The next day back at school, Rian was staring inside his locker blankly. He couldn't stop thinking about that dream he had. It was so vivid, so real, like it was actually happening. But what if it was true? He shook his head, dismissing his worry and closed his locker door.

"YO, Rian!" Axel startled him. He was with Talen and Pierre.

"Oh geez. Don't do that again!" he said before walking away. The guys followed.

"Boy, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Talen commented. Rian knew too well it was more than that.

"I know what can cheer you up!" Axel proposed, "Mirage Arena in the _Kingdom Hearts III Online HD _game!"

"All right! Test your might!" Pierre cheered and high-fived Axel.

"Mirage Arena? That's so yesterday!" Talen complained, "Let's do a quest together!"

"Guys! We're in trouble enough with school to even think about video games now, okay?" Rian sounded vehement.

The boys stood silence. "What?" Rian asked uneasily, seeing all eyes were all over him.

"Uh, are you having a headache or something?" Pierre gave Rian's forehead a good knock.

"Yeah, since when do you care about school?" Talen let out a slight uneasy chuckle.

Axel said nothing.

Rian looked back at his suspicious friends before scoffing and chuckling, "Me? School? No! I was just—!" he paused again and quickly changed subjects, "…hey! Let's do that Mirage thing together! Yeah, that'll cheer me up!" he turned to leave, but Taylor and Sierra found the boys and joined them.

"Hey guys!" Sierra greeted.

"There she is!" Pierre rose up his arms to his girl, "The future Homecoming Queen!" he hugged her and the two kissed. Sierra acted all proud, "Why thank you! It's a grand honor!"

"Yeah. Real honor." Taylor sounded dismissive as she was looking around the hallway, "Hey, have you seen Matt anywhere?" she asked.

The boys looked at each other for answer. They all shrugged.

**xXx**

Violet cornered Matt by the locker hall. She looked sternly into his eyes as if peering deep into his soul.

"What's up with you?" Matt asked her before turning away from her glare and heading out, "Can't blink?"

"Something's been eating me up alive." Violet came up strong at him, "It has to do with what Sage said." She then blocked his way as he was trying to distance away from her. Matt sighed exasperatedly. "I told you, she was only babbling."

"Keeping a secret are you?" Violet questioned, "Because it seems like you two have been tight before."

"She's a player." Matt said, "Like you and me. Get it?"

Violet shook her head, "Uh-huh. I don't think so. She's a Blackheart! And Blackhearts aren't _Kingdom Hearts_ Players like us. They're real enemies from the game. You know that, I know that, everyone involved in this game knows that…"

"There's nothing to tell." Matt snapped.

"Does Taylor know?"

Matt frowned, "What does Taylor got to do with this? Why does she have to know everything?"

"Uh… because she's your girlfriend? She could be your future fiancé, your future _wife_!" she responded fervently.

"Look…"

Before Matt could say something, a blinding light shone above the duo, distracting them from their conversations. They looked up and they heard falling cries. They stepped aside and watched Donald and Goofy land hard on the ground from out of the light. They looked dazed, seeing stars. Their appearance drew the heroes together.

"Hey! Donald and Goofy are here!" Pierre announced.

Donald quickly recovered to his feet. He scolded, "Yeah, you quackin' right we're here!" he faced Goofy and bonked him in the head with his staff, snapping him off his dizziness, "Wake up Goofy!"

"Yoinks!"

"Uh… are we in trouble?" Rian asked the angry Disney character.

"In trouble?" Donald exclaimed, "You're in SOOO much trouble! You're supposed to be training at the Gummi Ship Atrium for your battle against the Blackhearts! But no, you're here at Midlight City!"

The teens finally realized what they did, "Oh right." Axel mumbled.

"Yes, we _did_ sneak out," Taylor said. "But it was for good intention!"

"I had to attend the Beauty Pageant for the upcoming Homecoming Ball!" Sierra explained, "We didn't wanna miss all the excitement of school and such!"

The teens all tried to get an angry Donald and a clueless Goofy to understand what they did and why they did it, at least listen to reason. But it was at that very moment that Terra showed up, coming out of the Keyblade Portal in his suit of armor. Donald freaked out and hid behind Goofy, before realizing it was only the Keyblade Knight.

"Oh, it's you!" Donald snapped, "Must you always use that stupid portal every time you come in!"

Terra made his suit of armor vanished in sparkles before speaking, "We are locked from outside the Realm of Light. We can't go back there anymore."

"WHAT?" everyone exclaimed.

"But how?" Goofy asked.

"Blackheart member Phantamis, the Illusion." Terra informed them, "He used Keyblade Magic on all the Keyholes connecting to the Realm of Light and the real world to lock us out. Worse news of all, Snow White has been captured. Her heart of Pure Light is now under the Dominion's possession."

The news gravely touched the group, especially those who tried their best to protect the princess.

"An assault… How could they be so cruel, man?" Axel exclaimed.

"After all we've been through." Talen sounded pissed.

"What about the Prince? And the dwarves?" Violet desperately asked.

Terra had his eyes stared on the ground, before he revealed the grave news, "The heartless took them."

The teens all turned blank, "oh my gosh…" Taylor shuddered.

"And no one in the group was there to prevent this?" Donald cried out.

Terra turned to Donald, eyes locked on him. Then all the teens turned to face him also. Donald suddenly felt guilty.

"Uh… I think we were supposed to prevent this." Goofy whispered to Donald.

"I know that now!" Donald snapped.

"Wait a minute…" Matt said, "Did you…" he faced Terra, "Did you just say Keyblade Magic?"

All attention turned to Matt. "Yeah…" Terra responded.

"You know something?" asked Goofy.

Matt hesitated, "Well… yeah, I guess. Keyblade Magic is powerful magic done by a Keyblade, and its spell must be reversed by that _same_ Keyblade. Other Keyblades or forms of magical instruments, even hands of a powerful wizard, cannot undo spells made by Keyblade Magic.

"Okay, back up." Violet interrupted him, "Keyblade?"

"Yes." Matt responded, "The Blackhearts may be our enemies… but they're more than that: they are Keybearers."

The news came as a shock to the group, "What?" they shouted.

"We played the game, and we didn't know that till NOW?" Axel argued.

"They're Keybearers whose hearts have been given to eternal pure darkness." Matt clarified, "They use the power of their Keyblades to do many manipulative things, including…"

"…locking away our own Keyblade powers." Talen remembered their ordeal back at Dwarf Woodlands.

"So wait, what are you saying? We're _really _up against dark-wielding Keybearers?" Rian demanded.

"Actually, they're past Keybearers, raised from the dead by darkness." Matt clarified again.

"Oh, boy." Donald muttered. Goofy looked like he saw a ghost. The teens didn't look at ease at all, and Rian had a pretty good idea on where this discussion was going: Master Xehanort in his dream. He had to tell them somehow.

"Guys," he called to them, "I don't know how to tell you this, but…" he suddenly paused just as he was about to reveal to them his dream. What if it was only a dream? It'll be stupid to tell them if it's not gonna come true.

He quickly changed subjects, "…we gotta find a way back into the _Kingdom Hearts _world—I mean, the Realm of Light. Fast."

Everyone agreed, before he added, "The princesses must be protected at all cost."

"But how?" Donald asked, "We're locked in! And it's not going to be that simple."

"It could be as we thought." Terra said, taking a few paces around the halls and looking around the busy school hallways, "I sense another Keybearer in this school. That person's power is strong and full of darkness. Only someone who can wield darkness, but can retain his form and Keyblade ability, will be able to manipulate Keyblade Magic in the same dark ways the Blackhearts have been doing."

"A dark-wielding Keybearer in this school…" Axel sounded amazed, "…and that person could very well be on our side."

Terra faced Axel and the rest of the teens, "I wouldn't be so sure." He said, "That Keybearer could also be a villain and very dangerous. If you are to search for him or her, I would suggest you keep it low profile. Stay as your regular selves and you'll be fine."

"So, what's the plan?" Rian asked.

Terra glanced over at him, "You'll come up with one."

Rian looked surprised, "Me?" he said.

"You're the leader." Terra said.

"Just make a smart decision this time." Donald pleaded to him. Goofy giggled.

All eyes were on Rian. Rian never led a group of eleven before: seven Keybearers (including himself), a royal wizard, a royal guard, and a Keyblade Knight. He mischievously grinned at the very thought, "Hee! Hee. Hee… I know the perfect plan."

Everyone leaned over to Rian for his idea.

"It's so perfect, it's so foolproof… you'll be calling me a genius in no time." His smile grew widely.

**xXx**

The whole gang met again in the school's cafeteria for Lunch. Donald, Goofy, and Terra all wore modern-day fashion clothing. Donald had a cap worn backward, basketball jersey and sportive wrist band. Goofy wore a Fedora, small round glasses (like Ozzie Osbourne's), and still settled with his brown sweater, long-sleeve orange shirt, and stretchy pants. Terra's wardrobe was okay. It was a long sleeve checkered shirt over a black graphic tee, baggy pants, and a bandana to attach his forehead.

"Okay, this idea is stupid." Donald grumbled.

"I know." Terra said, "We're supposed to keep it low profile, not getting low."

The teens laughed.

"Dudes! This is by far the best idea ever!" Talen laughed, proudly patting Rian's back, like a good friend.

"Thank you!" Rian said, before facing Donald and Goofy, "Aren't you guys stylin'?"

"No." Terra bluntly said, "the pants are too large, that jersey Donald is wearing looks too tacky, and then there's Goofy's round glasses, they're so last season."

"Ah, come on now. You're just blending in with the crowd so that people won't get suspicious like you said." Rian said.

"And who won't get suspicious exactly?" said a brazen voice that made Taylor cringed. She suddenly felt an arm wrapping up tightly around her in strong affection. The heroes immediately looked back at the uninvited guest.

"Skyler Vitani." Taylor fake smirked.

"That's me!" Skyler proudly beamed, sounding like a popular football player. He only had that attitude because he's tight with both Taylor and Matt. Or at least he _was _tight with Matt. Matt had already formed a fist the moment he saw Skyler getting close to his girlfriend.

"Hey Sky, why don't you just back off?" Matt stepped in, barring him the space he invaded.

"Hey, chill man." Skyler raised his hands up in defense, "I just came to see what losing team you got yourself into?" and then he stared down at the gang impolitely, "Now I understand you had to team up with bad boy Rian Rivers up here…" Rian sarcastically mouthed an 'Ouch' phrase at Skyler's remark, "but these trio?"

He then stared down at Donald, Goofy, and Terra, "What are they, freshmen?"

He said that phrase so mockingly that Donald's rage came to him like a heat stroke. "Freshmen?!" he screamed, taking a leap toward Skyler and ready to rip his smirking face off its attached neck. But Goofy and Terra grabbed him moments before he could do that and held onto the struggling duck who kept shouting out names and lots and lots of vulgar insults in return.

"Hey who are you calling freshmen buddy?" Talen saw red too, and angrily came nose-to-nose to Skyler and stabbed his chest with his finger menacingly, "I happen to be popular too y'know?" he then pointed an accusing finger at the gang, "They're the ones who are losers!"

"HEY!" Sierra barked, "I WON A PAGEANT! I'M NO LOSER!"

Before everyone got caught up in the brouhaha, another student voice sounded among the group. It was female.

"Hey guys!"

All heads looked back toward another beauty and immediately recognized her, "Trishelle Banks!"

"High School's most reliable gossip girl." Talen called her. Trishelle, nicknamed Trish, always had something up on the news front whenever people came across her. There's not been a single day where she's been dried out of news since she calls her high school, the Hollywood of Teenagers, motivating her to get everything.

"Whatchu got there on the dish now girl?" Skyler asked her, smiling at her mockingly.

Trish returned the smile, "Heard about the Creepy Freshman? She struck again."

Sierra gasped.

"Last night." Trish finished on cue.

"The Creepy Freshman?" Goofy gritted his teeth, "Who is that? She sounds creepy…"

"Can tell you one thing though: she's not as dull as you three." Skyler replied.

"WHY YOU—!" Donald tried to jump on Skyler again and Terra and Goofy restrained him again.

Rian explained to those who didn't know, "The Creepy Freshman is one freshman people must be careful of. Well, she used to be freshman… but anyway, they say she used to be cheerful and full of spirits. But then, something happened in her life that changed her completely. She never showed up at school, she shunned out all her friends. She's now very, very, creepy."

"I thought I was the gossiper in here." Trish whined at Rian.

"Sorry." Rian said.

Trish cleared her throat and suddenly the entire cafeteria turned dark. Spotlight went on Trish upside-down, as she added more to the story, "They say that she has become friends with the devil, in the form of a flesh-eating zombie. Though these are the rumors, it sounds totally legit. Now whoever approaches the Creepy Freshman and tries to be friends with her is bound to be doomed to the dead and never to be seen in the face of high school or the earth… again."

Chilling music added to the tension. Sierra gasped. Pierre mumbled, "I… want… my…mommy…"

All eyes turned to Pierre. Pierre looked back, suddenly looking serious, "No really, I do." He said.

The lights went back up.

"So how is that Creepy Freshman struck again?" Matt asked Trish.

"She got Milene Vitali."

"WHAT?" they all gasped.

"Yeah… now she's spending her cheerleading days, moping around the Popular's Corner."

The gang redirected to the Popular's Corner and coincidently saw Milene there. But she was not moping. She was gossiping, surrounded by all the students at the school.

"OMG!"

"I KNOW!"

"OMG!"

"I KNOW!"

"OMG!"

"I know."

The cheerleaders kept squealing "OMG" and Milene kept squealing "I Know" randomly.

"She doesn't look like she's moping." Axel commented from what he saw.

Trish looked back at Rian, "btw, Rian, she wants you."

"I know." Rian sighed exasperatedly, "She's been wanting me since I became a bad boy." He then paused, looking up in thought, "maybe it's not such a bad thing."

Trish rolled her eyes, "No. She's been wanting you to talk about the Creepy Freshman. It sounds like you two share some…" she cleared her throat uncomfortably before whispering, "_history_… together. Gasp!"

Sierra gasped again. All eyes turned on Rian. Rian looked nervous, "History?" he gulped, "with the Creepy Freshman?"

"Hey, maybe you're creepy too!" Talen joked, and Skyler laughed with him. The two bumped fists.

"That's not funny." Terra told Talen, "Maybe by that, she means something more." Terra gave the gang a stern look. The teens, Donald and Goofy immediately got the signal. Maybe that Creepy Freshman has some history about the Dark Keybearer! "Ohhh…" they said in unison.

But Rian still looked confused, "What?" he squealed.

"What are you waiting for boy?" Skyler provoked, "Go out there and get some!" he pushed Rian in front.

"I'm coming with you!" Axel insisted, "I wanna see what that Creepy Freshman looks like."

"Oh no, you don't, Axelicious!" Trish pulled Axel by the colon dragging him back to the gang, "You're staying here with me!" she restrained him in a hug. "HEY!" Axel struggled.

"You be careful out there, Rian!" Donald called out to Rian.

"Ha-Yuck. Don't wanna be ya!" Goofy muttered.

Rian looked back at his friends who were waving goodbye at him like he was about to go out to war. But he wasn't even going to war. He was going to meet Milene, where through her, would end up meeting… the Creepy Freshman!

…maybe they _were _saying goodbye to him forever.

"Curse my bad boy charm." He grumbled, before facing the gossiping group in front of him. Here goes, he sighed, approaching Rian. All heads looked away from Milene toward Rian. Realizing what was going on behind her, Milene looked back.

"Rian!" she screamed and tackled him in a tight hug. "Whoa! Hey!" Rian grunted.

"Don't let her take you!" Milene squealed.

Rian looked back at the gang and shouted, "TAKE ME?" The gang exchanged glances of concern.

Milene released Rian and placed her hand on his cheek, "That Creepy Freshman." She said, frowning, "She wants to take you for herself, and she asked me to tell you to go to her. Well, guess what? I'm NOT gonna let her! You're staying with _me_, River Pooh! You belong to ME!" she hugged him again, and all the cheerleaders were squealing dramatically in response.

"River Poo?" Rian frowned in disgust, just at the sound of that name. The heroes who overheard, couldn't help but laugh.

"Wait a minute." Rian pulled Milene from the hug, "That Creepy Freshman… what does she looks like?"

"Creepy, duh."

"Could you be more specific?"

Milene looked up in thought for what felt like hours of thinking. Everyone who were listening to this story leaned in to hear what she had to say at any second.

"No. Doesn't ring a bell." She blurted out. Rian sighed, discouraged.

"Wait!" Milene spoke again, "I know something. She was with that flesh-eating zombie. It was disgusting and eating up its skin alive… oh gross…"

Trishelle approached Milene, captivated by her story, with a notepad on hand, "you mean the flesh eating devil?"

"That's the one!" Milene said, "…and she was carrying a Death-Scythe."

"A death-scythe?" everyone gasped.

"Yeah…" Milene replied, "…but it was in a strange shape. Like in a giant key or something."

The moment the heroes heard 'key', they knew immediately. Keyblade! They said together. The watching students turned their attention to them, captivating by that word as if they knew more. The heroes froze up.

"Err…" Axel hesitated.

"You know something, don't you Axel?" Trish narrowed her eyes on him.

"No, not really." Axel shook his head, "Why would we… ahem… why would we know something? We don't know Keyblade about nothing!"

Suddenly the Keyblade found itself to Rian's hands. All the students saw that and gasped.

"Uh-oh…" Donald mumbled.

Trishelle slowly stepped toward Rian, her eyes beaming at the Keyblade, "What is that?" she asked.

Rian moved the Keyblade behind him and grinned, "Nothing! Gotta go!" Rian took off in a mad dash. "HEY!" Trishelle screamed.

"Hey wait! Don't leave me here, River Pooh!" Milene went after the heroes who had also taken off with Rian. An angry Trishelle barked, "They KNOW something! AFTER THEM!" she called in her student body mob and they charged down the hallways after the heroes. "You're not leaving me here alone too, Taylor!" Skyler barked, chasing from behind.

**xXx**

The Keyhole Portal opened up inside the Gummi Ship's Atrium, where the heroes materialized after being chased by the student mob.

"These kids are onto us." Matt sighed.

"You had to open your mouth did you?" Violet scolded Axel.

Axel shrugged, "Hey, don't look at me! We were all thinking the same thing! And don't blame me, blame Rian for summoning that Keyblade!" He shot him a cold glare, "Showoff."

"Hey, I didn't show off! That thing came to me!" Rian protested.

"Speaking of what we were thinking…" Terra went over to the ship's computer. Donald and Goofy followed.

"Whatchu looking for?" Donald asked him.

"Something to help us locate the Creepy Freshmen." Terra said, "Without ever been spotted."

He finally found the location, "There." He declared, "It appears that she dwells deep down in the school's basement in isolation." He faced the teens, "One of you must go down there to meet with her and get some information out of her."

"But how can we even do that, without people questioning us?" Pierre asked, "Now pretty much everyone in the school is gonna know our secret."

"I got an idea." Donald stepped in, raised his finger up in the air and cried out, "SHAKRRAAH!!"

A powerful bolt of Thundaga struck the teens hard. "YEEEOWWWCH!" The bolt vanished, leaving the teens completely smoked and on the ground.

"Jeez, man! What was that?" Talen barked at Donald.

"It's called Sparking Vanitas." Donald said, "It's a spell of memory erasure, that in less than 24 hours, everyone who saw you will forget what has happened."

"Gee, that gotta hurt." Goofy said. Then Rian agreed, "Yeah, does it had to hurt like that?"

"You deserved it." Donald said.

"So, any volunteers planning to meet with this… Creepy Freshman?" Terra asked the group. There were blank stares everywhere.

"Hey, I know who to send." Violet proposed before turning her attention toward Axel. Then all eyes went on Axel. Axel stared back at the many eyes staring, not liking where this is going. "Ohh no, no, no, no, no." he shook his head swiftly.

"Aw come on now, you wanted to volunteer no?" Talen teased him.

"I was joking!" Axel barked, "Can't you guys learn to take a joke? Why can't any of you go?"

Everyone stepped back in response, with collective head-shaking and phrases like "no!" or "are you out of your mind?" or "That's madness." coming out of them.

"Okay, fine!" Axel raised his hands in surrender. But then after a short pause he added with a poker face, "But _how_ about we determine who gets to go while we play a game of—!"

"NOTIT!" everyone but Axel yelled out.

"Aw, COME ON!"

**xXx**

Axel stepped into the school's basement, and as usual it was dark and not such an unpleasant place to hang out for a long time. _Dang it, you say one thing, they perceive another, _Axel mumbled, blaming the others for the mess he was getting himself into.

A cracking sound was heard behind him and he looked back, startled. He saw nothing. He gulped.

"Maybe I should summon my Keyblade…" he muttered. But then he quickly shook head, dismissing the idea, "No. It's best that Ikeep it low profile."

A bat flew by and he almost screamed. He didn't see another thing again.

"Aw, who am I kiddin'?" he summoned his Keyblade and morphed it into his Dessert Eagle. With a gun in hand, now he felt comfortable… or he felt like being in one of those action/horror movies where the next victim goes into danger further and further until the moment he let his guard down, bam. He's dead.

"HEY!"

"AAAH!!" he turned around and pulled the trigger. The impact resounded and caused the bullet to shatter something that forced the lights to get turned on. Axel saw Trishelle. Axel quickly made his gun vanish when Trish wasn't looking, staring at the bullet hole on the wall. She then faced him, startled.

"Whoa! Geez!" Axel gasped, "I'm so sorr—!"

"SHHH!" Tishelle hissed before pulling Axel's arm and quickly dragging him to a hiding place. She then whispered harshly, "What are you doing talking at a high voice when we're actually facing a criminal here?" she scolded.

"Criminal?" Axel looked confused.

"That Creepy Freshman has a freaking gun!" she whispered, "We're not dealing with someone with social issues, we're dealing with a full-blown psychopath! And she almost _killed_ my Axelicious here!"

"Yeah, man! We are dealing with crazy… people out here." Axel quickly played along, before breathing a quick sigh of relief. She almost discovered his secret, and what's worse he almost blew up her head at the same moment. Now she's thinking the Creepy Freshman is behind the gunshot. "That was close"he said to you, breaking the fourth wall.

"Who are you talking to?" Trish asked him, catching him at a bad time. He turned to face her, looking sincere, "Forget about what am I doing! What are _you_ doing here?"

"I was worried about you!" Trish replied, "Ever since we started talking about the Creepy Freshmen, you and your friends suddenly got tensed up. And you never even answered to my question? You said something about Keyshape or whatever. Now, Skyler think you guys are going crazy like the Creepy Freshman."

"Look. She's not creepy. She's just a girl with insecurities." Axel theorized, "If we talk to her and listen to her story, she might come around and not be creepy anymore."

A smudgy skeleton hand grabbed on tight to Axel's clavicle and effortlessly pulled him back into the darkness. "AAAAAH!!" Trishelle screamed, then made a run for it. Something fell from the ceiling, blocking Trishelle's road: Nix Vers. 2, the same creature that Kami holds as pet! His skeleton eyehole transfixed her in place, and allowed Spider heartless to materialize before her in an inexhaustible army. Trishelle knew exactly what to do.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

xXx

* * *

xXx

Everyone was quiet inside the Gummi Ship. Donald and Goofy were playing Chess, Terra was just chilling, and the teens were doing what they love doing the most: hanging out and playing some video games on their PSP.

Sierra, sensing something was totally wrong, put down the romance novel book she was reading and said, "Guys, I'm worried about Axel. He hasn't even called once!"

"We're expecting his call every fifteen minutes. It's only been nine minutes, Sierra." Pierre told his girlfriend.

"I know! But—!"

"Hey." Talen suddenly got an insight, "I just got an idea! What if, just imagine this, what _if _the Creepy Freshman had lost its hand to an extremely bad fire accident, and he used all of that hand to effortlessly kidnap Axel without putting much of a struggle? Wouldn't that be cool?"

Talen received no response. Just blank stares. Talen felt the tension, "What?" he said.

"Boy aren't you gonna feel so sorry if that actually happens." Matt said before the ship's door shifted open and Skyler stormed inside, uninvited! The alerted heroes stood up, "Skyler?" Taylor exclaimed.

"You won't _believe _what just happened today. Trishelle has actually met the Creepy Freshman and she got traumatized on a full-scale level."

"What?" the heroes all gasped, standing up.

"And that monster has captured your little daredevil buddy Axel." He added to the announcement and the heroes boomed out, "WHAAAT?!"

"Yeah! There's no way in reasoning with this lady Malade now." He referred to the Creepy Freshman "She is one crazy _yoooohooo_!" he sang.

"See I told you! Axel's in trouble!" Sierra shouted.

"We gotta get him guys." Rian proposed, "We don't know who we will be facing up against but we gotta find him. Now if only we could—!"

"NOTIT!" Everyone but Rian shouted out. Rian just stood there, totally blanked.

"Okay, wh-wh wh-wh-wha…" he stammered, "what are you doing?" he tried not to sound too edgy.

"We're giving you the torch of the Brave." Goofy said and everyone nodded in agreement.

"I don't want no torch of Brave," Rian disputed, "I want—!"

The team took further distance from Rian. "…to leave you alone huh?" Rian gloomily finished his sentence.

"Hey cool! Sweet setup!" Skyler said, staring around the Gummi Ship interior before facing the heroes, "Where did you get this ship?"

Everyone hesitated, not knowing what to say. This Skyler guy was too much in their business. But then Goofy lit up, like a lightbulb came up above his head. "It's not a ship Skyler, it's for Drama Class."

Skyler cocked his head on one side, "huh?"

"Yeah!" Donald added, already liking Goofy's idea, "we're rehearsing for the next school play of _Star Trek_!"

Everyone noticed Skyler's frowning. Then Terra put in the finishing touch, "This week, we are gonna battle the Orcean Army of Unversed in Fat Suits and Freaky glasses."

The teens giggled as Skyler pulled back, repulsed, "Ugh… please! No more of that geek stuff! I'm outta here!" he stormed out.

Taylor let out a sigh of relief among the others, "Phew, and I thought he was gonna figure it out."

"Yeah, thanks guys!" Talen said to Donald, Goofy, and Terra.

"Just remember next time, we're not cleaning up your mess." Terra warned.

**xXx**

Axel slowly opened his eyes at the creaking sound of a rocking wood chair dancing in the chilly wind. He blinked hard several times, clearing up the blurry image of darkness circling in front of him and saw himself in an old abandoned room that smelled like smoke and looked like trash everywhere. It took him a second to realize he was still in the school's basement at a new section, trapped on another rocking chair, his wrists bounded by dark magic in the form of bracelet.

"What the…?"

He moved his wrist an inch and the dark magic released sparks, shocking him. "Waaa!" he yelped, the shock finally woke him up. He tried to move his feet also, and same scenario. He tried to struggle but then feared he was gonna get jolted again. He looked around, "Hey! What's going on here?" he shouted.

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSCHHHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

A high-pitch scream that sounded like a preying snake rented the room. Axel froze up. His eyes stared at every corner of the room, searching for the freak that just hissed. "…what was that?" his voice shook.

On cue, Nix vers. 2 came up to his face, "HIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSCHHHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The rocking chair sent Axel to the ground and shattered. The dark magic vanished too and Axel quickly stood up. The creature pinned Axel on the wall before he even had a chance to react.

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSCHHHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" the creature breathed again. Axel frowned in repulse, "Oh my GASH! You _really_ need to get a breath mint!!"

"Same sense of humor as always." The voice of Death-Scythe caught their attention. Nix vers. 2 rushed up to her and to its other Nix half who was lurking behind her like a shadow. Axel appeared surprised yet frightened to see Death-Scythe.

She noticed Axel was no longer bounded on the rocking chair, "I see you have easily broken away from my dark magic. No doubt, you really are him. The one who PKed my brother."

"PK?" Axel said, "What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know… Thunder."

Axel flinched, thinking a thunder bolt was gonna strike him. It took him a few second to realize she wasn't casting any magic. She was calling him Thunder. She called him by the wrong name.

"Whoa, wait a minute, Thunder? I'm not who you think— WHOAAH!"

Axel got cut off when Nix suddenly pinned him to the wall. Its piranha teeth got close to his face and slowly moved up and down as if scanning him.

"What are you talking about you're not Thunder?" Death-Scythe spoke as Nix was analyzing him, "Don't lie to me boy! You smell like a Keybearer, and my assassin's a Keybearer. A PKer!"

"I'm not lying to you!" Axel protested, "I'm telling you the truth! I'm Axel and," he hesitated, glancing over at the staring Nix, "…y-yes I'm a Keybearer, but I'm just a cosplay character… I mean, not a cosplay character! And…c-could you tell this freak to move an inch away from me, unless he wants to feast on me for dinner? I would really appreciate it." He finished with a nervous chuckle.

Nix stared back at Death-Scythe and shook his head. Death-Scythe growled, "Grrr…" she angrily slammed her Death-Scythe on the ground, "DAMNIT where is he? That girl LIED to me!" she mumbled as Nix returned to her side, "If I ever see her the next time, it's 'Good Night World' for her."

There was an awkward silence in the room. Axel noticed her weapon and spoke, "Hey, you must be the Creepy Freshman everyone is talking about!"

Death-Scythe glared back at him. He gulped, "… and you must be the Keybearer of Darkness too."

"So what if I am?" she said before pointing her scythe at him threateningly, forcing his hands up in the air, "And don't call me Creepy Freshman again or else—!"

"It's 'Good Night World' for me. Yeah, I get the message. Can I…" he gulped, "Can I go home now? I promise I won't tell a soul about you."

Death-Scythe thoughtfully pondered. She then stared back at Axel, glaring more murderously, "Why would I do that, when you're his bait?"

Axel didn't like where this was going, "aw, come on…"

**xXx**

Rian reached down the school hallway toward the Popular's Corner, which as usual was always crowded. This time it was crowded because they all wanted to see a traumatized Trishelle. Rian could hear her inside the School's Newspaper room.

"This is Trishelle Banks, High school's most… (shuddering)… reliable gossip girl. Getting all the…(shuddering)… dishes on the what's what, who's who, and everything… (shuddering)…unspeakable to you…"

Rian saw Tidus and Zidane there and he approached them, "Hey Tidus! What's going on?"

"Rian, what's up?" Tidus cheerfully greeted him.

"Looks like you came in just at the right time." Zidane told him, "Gossip girl's having a breakdown."

"Breakdown?" Rian repeated, and Tidus and Zidane nodded. Rian squeezed through the crowded students and saw Trishelle in front of him, sitting and rocking back and forth behind a wall and surrounded by books and magazines. Milene was with her.

"Whoa… talk about a breakdown." Rian muttered.

"This isn't funny, you know?" Milene shot back at Rian, "She had to face that creature all alone after _your _friend abandoned her!"

"Axel didn't abandon her. The Creepy Freshman captured him!" Rian said, and Trishelle blurted out, "OHHH, the world is ending with us!!"

"Actually, the world ends with you." Rian joked. Milene and Trishelle glared back at Rian. Rian stopped smiling, "Sorry."

"RIAN!" Rian heard Sierra calling out to him. She entered the room and saw the mess in front of her. Milene saw Sierra and she turned cold. Sierra saw the unwelcoming staring, "Wow, talk about nervous breakdown at a young age." She said.

"Ah-Ha!" Milene mocked, "Very funny. Now why could it not have been YOU to go there? You stole my Pageant crown you know?"

Sierra rolled her eyes before Rian responded, "We took a vote." He then glared back at Sierra, "a vote which I was suddenly not a part of."

"Oh stop whining and take this!" Sierra grabbed Rian's hand and placed something on his palm. Rian saw the object. "A charm?" he observed its shape which highly resembled the one Kairi gave to Sora, and the one Aqua gave to Terra and Ven. He touched the skin and looked grossed out, "made of banana peel? Wow, how thoughtful, _Kairi _wannabe."

"HEY!" Sierra barked, "It took me hours to make that stupid thing, alright! And it worked for the others! They came back together again!"

"Okay, okay!" Rian said, putting the charm in his back pocket, "I'll remember to cherish it always while I'm gone."

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Milene shot up to her feet and rushed to Rian, "YOU'RE LEAVING?!" she bawled.

"Well, yeah. I gotta go rescue my friend from the Creepy Freshman." Rian explained, "I'll be back, I got a charm!"

Milene glared back at Sierra, "You steal my crown and are getting rid of my boyfriend?! You NEVER want me to have happiness don't you? Why don't you just rip out my heart?" Milene stormed out of the room, "MOVE!" she screamed and the students pushed themselves away from her to give her room.

"HEY, what about me?!" Trish went after the popular vixen, "Don't leave me here!"

**xXx**

Night fell again in the school. Thunder peeked inside the abandoned hallway. It was dark again, so he was carrying a flashlight that was shedding only the faintest light. As usual there was no one in the room.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" he called out but only got an echo. He bravely stepped into the hallway and heard his footstep creaking on the ground. He couldn't see anything, except that small light coming from the moon outside through an opened window.

"Jeez, what is this place? A haunted house?" he thought before turning off his flashlight and gave his necklace a slight tap. The necklace radiated a shining light, illuminating the entire basement and revealing a crowd of spider heartless: eighteen small ones, six medium ones, and three giant ones. Thunder startled at his menacing childhood fear facing him. He slowly paused for combat.

xXx

* * *

xXx

The army of spider heartless came face-to-face with Thunder. Thunder had already summoned his Keyblade and ready for battle.

The heartless army jumped. Thunder struck them one by one with his Keyblade, twisting and turning as he swung in grace. But the more he attacked the more aggressive they became. The assault felt like it was gonna go on forever.

The heartless army jumped back for an intermission. Thunder stood still with his Keyblade, exhausted and unable to move. The giant spiders heartless saw that chance to attack with their web string. Johnny dodge-rolled out of the way then used his Skid ability to skid around the spiders who were chasing him with their strings. The little spiders tried to jump on him again but he knocked them away before they could land on him while skidding away from the strings.

He reached behind the spiders and fully launched his Blast attack, propelling the spiders to oblivion. The little spiders were left. They rushed toward him and he dodged with a somersault and in midair, he twirled his Keyblade gracefully like a swordsman and raised it up to the ceiling, casting a Thunder Spell on the creatures. The impact blasted them but then it hit Thunder to the ground with recoil.

Thunder sat up, exhausted from the battle he just endured. Then a small spider jumped on his shoulder and tried to bit him. He yelped, quickly grabbed on the spider, slammed it on the ground, and squished it with his foot.

"Ew, ew, ew…" Thunder shuddered, stepping away as the spider vanished, "Next time I see a spider, I'm gonna keel over."

He made his Keyblade disappeared and turned around, "Whoa!" He jumped at the sight of a figure, standing a few feet in front of him.

It was Death-Scythe! Nix, the Assassin version, was lurking behind her like a shadow as always.

The girl stared coldly at Thunder. Thunder sighed, "Girl, you gave me a scare!"

"Hmph." was all that came out of her.

"Now why don't you run along back home and--!" Thunder stopped, noticing Death-Scythe's weapon. Rian smiled at the figure, "Hey, cool scythe!"

Thunder immediately stopped smiling, feeling cagy, "Hey, wait a second…"

The girl swung her weapon and posed for combat.

"Johnny Thunder Keyblade." the girl spoke in a moody serious tone, "Just the PK I was looking for all these years."

"PK?" Thunder suddenly felt tense, "Wait a minute… you're not--! Are you--! You're the one who's--?!"

"Quit your yammering and fight!" the girl swung her scythe behind her, and to Thunder's surprise, the scythe turned back into a Keyblade. She posed again for combat.

"The Keybearer of Darkness…" Thunder gasped.

"Death Spirit Mode!" she said before raising her Keyblade and it morphed into a Kusarigama. She swung it menacingly.

"Wait! Whoa! I don't wanna fight you!" Thunder exclaimed, but the girl didn't listen. She twirled her Kusarigama in the air and swung its end right at Thunder. Thunder thrust his hands up and his Keyblade appeared to him again. The Kurasigama wrapped around Thunder's Keyblade and pulled it off his grasp.

"Hey, that's cheatin'!" Thunder shouted. The Keyblade reached Death-Scythe's grasp, but before she got the chance to grab it, it disappeared in a million bits. Thunder stared in horror.

"Cheatin'?" Death-Scythe snapped, "Says the guy who PK'ed my brother! And you think this is cheatin'?"

"What?"

"I, Death Scythe, will end your world!" she angrily swung her Kurasigama again, this time its end touched the ground and she bounced into the air as a momentum. Thunder watched her fly and then descend toward him with her weapon's blade pointing down. She struck him hard then followed in a two-hit combo, sweeping him off his feet. Thunder crashed through the school's roof into the air, where the girl chased after him, Dissidia-style.

Her weapon turned to her death-scythe again during the chase and she swung at Thunder again, sending him flying further into the moonlight. She then appeared upside-down facing Thunder, her cold eyes on him.

"You killed my brother! And now I'm going to kill you!" she yelled before taking another swing of her death-scythe and Thunder flew further to the sky into the school's flag pole, splitting it. The air chase went on. The girl was ready to deliver the final blow, but then Thunder flipped, dodging the attack. His Keyblade had reappeared to his grasp and he swung at the girl. The girl blocked the attack with her Death-Scythe and the two weapons were locked-on each other.

"Why are you doing this? I don't want to fight you!" Thunder yelled.

"…you just wanna run." The girl hissed.

"Look! I don't know who you are, really, but I didn't kill anyone! I don't know your brother! I don't even know you!"

"You're a liar, you know that! You _know _who I am. The Creepy Freshman, is that right? Is that what everyone's been calling me at school since then? They don't KNOW what happened to me and my brother since the accident!"

"Accident?"

The two weapons separated and the girl swung at Thunder again, sending him to the ground. His fall impact shaved most of the concrete entryway of the school. The girl landed on her feet and stabbed her death-scythe to the ground.

"Well let me tell you what everyone should be calling me: Naraku Death-Scythe Shinigami, the Keybearer of Death. Bringing justice to criminals of the Kingdom Hearts Online HD World." She pointed her death-scythe at Thunder again, "And you are no free man to me."

"Such… unbelievable strength…" Thunder struggled to stand on his feet, but immediately fell, too weak to hold on.

"That's right. Grovel and beg while you can. If I were you, I would pray instead." She raised her death-scythe and brought it to a descent. Her weapon suddenly vanished at the resounding of gunfire.

"What?" Death-Scythe shouted, looking around to see who did that. She saw no one, "Who's interrupting?" she hissed.

"Yoohoo…" Nix heard something and before he could turn around, felt a kick in the face, and fell to the ground in front of Death-Scythe. She looked back but saw no one.

"Sorry girl, but I can't let you do that." She heard Axel's voice but she couldn't see him. Thunder heard him too but couldn't spot him either. Suddenly he saw him, as Sharx, fading in like an image and sneaking behind Death-Scythe. "There's one thing you need to know girl."

He thrusted a kick on her back by surprise, sending her to the ground. He finished, "…I'm in Stealth Mode."

"Err… Sharx?" Thunder tried to warn him.

Death-Scythe turned to face Sharx who was approaching. He kept kicking her, bullying her, and tossing her side by side, not realizing he wasn't invisible anymore.

"I am invisible," he claimed, "and I can attack you any way I want without even revealing myself." He readied a kick.

"Sharx!" Thunder yelled out, and Sharx threw his kick at Death-Scythe, but Death-Scythe vanished and he missed. She reappeared behind him and clutched him by his hair. Sharx gasped.

"…you're not in Stealth Mode anymore." Thunder finished his warning.

Death-Scythe suddenly emitted a violet aura and her eyes went white. Teeth grew fangs and her face turned grizzly-like. Her clutch tightened Sharx's hair as the aura overwhelmed her and she screamed, "GGGYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOWWW!!"

The whole front entryway started shaking, releasing rocks from the concrete road and releasing winds everywhere. Sharx struggled, trying to release himself. Thunder finally stood up and watched in awe to Death-Scythe sudden transportation.

"PSYCHOOOO!" she yelled out, finally looking like a bloodthirty hound, ready to kill for thrill. As she cackled psychotically the guys looked on as if the world was coming to an end. The still-struggling Sharx returned to his Axel-self. He was losing his life fast.

"AXEL!" Thunder cried out. He aimed his Keyblade at Death-Scythe. She easily snatched the Keyblade from him telepathically and it morphed to her death-scythe. She aimed at him, speaking with a changed voice, "YoU'rE fInIsHeD! YeAaAaAH! Ha! hA! Ha! hA! Ha! hA! Ha! hA! Ha! hA!"

Thunder transfixed, unable to do a thing.

Suddenly a small burst of air split the group apart. It was Cross, in Bike Mode! Cross had casted a Gust attack on the gang. He wasn't alone, Soledad and Flora came in also, rushing up to the guys to help them.

"Are you all right?" Soledad asked.

"Y-yeah… never better." Axel grunted, exhausted from almost being instant-killed.

"You guys are pretty banged up." Flora told Axel and Rian. Cross, still on his bike, pointed his Keyblade at Death-Scythe. "It's over now, Death-Scythe." He said to her.

She got up, weaponless, still looking pissed, "Oh, look! You brought your whole posse with you."

"Listen to reason, Death-Scythe!" Soledad spoke, "These guys came to you for help."

"We need your help in accessing the Kingdom Hearts world and with your power you can." Cross added.

"And you attacked them?" Flora exclaimed, "How low."

"Johnny Thunder _needs_ my help?" Death-Scythe snarled, "He killed my brother!"

"I didn't—!" Thunder tried to speak but Death-Scythe cut him off, "Look. I got reliable sources from Alistare that the person behind the crime inflicted on Tenshu was done by you, Thunder. You expect me to believe that you're the good guy?"

"Alistare…" everyone knew that name, before Cross spoke out, "Hey, you got this all wrong. Alistare works for our real enemy the Blackhearts. He's playing you to get justice on the wrong person."

"He's the enemy." Axel added, still recovering.

"The enemy?" Death-Scythe blinked, her Psycho Mode suddenly diminished to Normal Mode, before she reverted back to Kami. Cross, Soledad, Flora, and Thunder reverted back to their regular form. Everyone gathered together, "What do you mean Alistare is the enemy?" Kami spoke, wanting to know why Alistare be called an enemy by these Keybearers.

"Alistare the Mastermind is using you to get what he wants," Matt explained, "and that is our hearts of Pure Bravery. They are thirteen Keybearers besides us six who too possesses that heart. Three more are back at the Gummi Ship, and four more has yet to be identified. And then there's you. But we're telling you, you are being played by the enemy."

"I won't be surprised if he sends something to attack you right this minute, betraying your trust." Flora added.

"Trust is the last thing I need to put in people." Kami said, "and right now, I can't trust you and your words. What makes you think Alistare is the enemy?"

Nix vers. 2 sneaked behind Kami, ready to launch a surprise attack on her. Rian warned, "Watch out!"

Nix vers. 2 leapt on Kami. Kami teleported out of the way. The creature hissed at the teens. The teens, without transforming summoned their Keyblades, including Kami.

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSCHHHYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" The creature hissed again. The teens saw themselves surrounded by a double team of Nix vers.2.

"What in hell…?" Axel gasped.

"Heel, Nix." Kami ordered the creature but the creature didn't response. It still looked edgy, its many images paced around the teens like lions. "Heel!" Kami tried again, nothing.

"You got your proof. Happy now?" Violet told Kami.

"Okay, why isn't it listening to me?" Kami asked.

"It is listening to _me _now." They heard Alistare's voice now and directed their attention toward him. Nix the Assassin was behind him like a shadow now, no longer lurking behind Kami.

"Alistare…" Rian angrily said his name.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kami barked at the Blackheart Mastermind.

"Things have changed." He said.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I am talking about your sudden conversion to the enemy." Alistare said, giving her a disappointing stare. He then faced Matt with that same stare, "Already knowing a few besides you."

Violet noticed the tension between Matt and Alistare, but the others didn't.

"We had a deal Alistare." Kami barked.

"And have you kept part of your deal?" he asked her, then answered, "Didn't think so. Nix!" he readied his finger for a snap, "Commence." He ordered before snapping his finger and vanished on cue. The Nixes took mad dash toward the Keybearers.

The Nix Assassin jumped on Rian and delivered ninja combos at him. Rian nimbly dodged most of them but got struck by the finisher. The teens gathered to fight the Nix vers. 2's team but they were too quick for them. They threw slashes and delivered bloody combos at them while Nix Assassin kept landing flip kicks and jabs at them, almost wiping them all off. The whole show felt like in an action movie, with the teens trying to fight the army of Nix creatures but the ninja would always get in the way and being too good for them.

The ninja suddenly summoned a katana blade and raised it up in the air while mumbling some gibberish spell. The flesh-eating creatures that followed the ninja-like figure jumped on the teens as if in response to his mumbling. The teens all screamed.

"No way you're getting your way!" Axel yelled out, before pushing the creature off him. He faced the creature, morphed his Keyblade to his Dessert Eagle and shot at the creatures. Rian joined him and with his Keyblade performed his FOCUS MODE, consecutively blasting enemies as Axel kept shooting. Kami sneaked behind them, her weapon, now looking like a laser scythe, was up in the air. She cried out "TRI-EDGE!" as she descended in front of the boys and halved on the enemies twice before harnessing immense energy on the scythe to create the final/third strike, causing fatal damage on them.

Matt and Taylor fought the creatures side-by-side, their backs on each other, swinging at the creatures. Matt and Taylor then faced each other, nodding and quickly transforming into their Keybearers form, pushing away the Nix vers.2s.

"And my demons lay in waiting…?" Cross said to Soledad and Soledad added in response, smiling, "…tempting me away."

They clasped hands and the duo performed a Cyclone Blazer, Cross twirled with Soledad, creating a Cyclone-style move while Soledad with her Keyblade pointed forward, forming a wheel of fire around it, dancing with the cyclone and scorching enemies at bay like wildfire.

Violet fought one-on-one with Nix. As Nix delivered jabs and flip-kicks, Flora countered with her Keyblade and soared in thrusts, kicks, somersaults and back-flips, fighting like professional ninjas. She blocked one kick and threw a forward one, sending Nix flying. She went into a Dancing Breeze Mode and quickly attacked Nix in a flurry of swings, finishing it with a slam of the Keyblade to the ground, raiding the enemy to oblivion.

The gang noticed the enemies were defeated. Cross and Soledad morphed back to their regular forms.

_This isn't over, Keybearers. _The gang could hear Alistare's voice renting the moonlit sky like a god, _Someday you will greet your end! _His voice faded out in laughter.

"Everyone okay?" Matt asked.

"We're okay." Axel breathed in relief.

"Boy, what a rush!" Rian sighed.

Kami stepped away from the group. Rian called out to her. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Going after my brother." She said without looking back.

"By yourself?" Taylor sounded surprised, "You can't do this by yourself!"

"Someone's gotta bring justice to these runts!" Kami sounded angry, "They tricked me into thinking that you guys killed my brother."

"But why bring justice on them alone when you have allies with you?" Axel told her.

"Sorry. I work alone." Kami said.

"Hey, come on now." Axel approached Kami, placing his hand on her shoulder. She glared at his hand, then back at him. Axel moved it away.

"Look, I know we have our differences." Rian said, "but to be honest, we too are fighting for a cause. The Kingdom Hearts world and our world are in trouble of being dominated by the Blackheart Dominion. They recently locked us out of the world and stolen Snow White's heart."

Kami looked surprised, "One of the Princesses of Hearts?" everyone nodded to her question. Kami's face showed no emotion, but deep down there was concern; concern that the hearts of Pure Light were in grave peril from being stolen by the Blackheart Dominion, and these are the same Blackhearts that tricked her.

Rian went on, "We need to head back to the Kingdom Hearts world if we can, and you can do this since you can manipulate their powers with your own dark one. Come on, Kami. I know you don't want to do this, hanging out with us. But together we're a team. What do you say?"

Everyone awaited Kami's response.

**xXx**

Alistare watched through the glass window of the Dominion's Lounge to stare at the endless nightsky, like he didn't give a care of the world. He then senses a presence behind him. Already giving an hint at who it was through the glass' reflection, he greeted his comrade, "Ah, Denzol…"

He then turned to face him, "…the Demeanor."

"Tell me Alistare. What are you planning?" he asked, oh-so-quietly.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I overheard you talk to Phantamis the other day."

"Oh, so you know?"

"Of course I know!" Denzol suddenly exploded, "We're supposed to be trapping these Keybearers pest to this world, not locking them out to their real world! Damnit, we have a mission to fulfill!"

Alistare suddenly grabbed Denzol by the neck and lifted him up, "You'll learn to treat me with respect, boy. I may not be the leader of this group, but I'm the oldest. And wisest! So no foul mouth got it?"

"You may be the wisest…" Denzol choked, "but my foul mouth will… run you like a truck either way… so put me down and tell me… what… the… hell… is going on?"

Alistare and Denzol exchanged glares in this tensing moment of silence. Then Alistare released him. Denzol fell on his knee, coughing.

"Smart mouth." Alistare mumbled, "Since I already explained to Phantamis, perhaps I shall tell you. Maurchel plans to betray us."

Denzol looked surprised, "…how?"

"He's been visiting the Room of Sleep for some times, paying frequent visit to Father." He then faced Denzol, "He plans to revive Master Xehanort."

He looked back out the window. Denzol looked more and more confused, "But… isn't that good news? And what does this has to do with locking the…" Denzol stopped talking, suddenly getting the message, "Oh… you mean…"

"Yes." He said, "The Thirteen Hearts of Pure Bravery are essential to revive our Father. But these hearts will also give us ultimate power to Kingdom Hearts. So I had no choice…"

"…but to lock the Keybearers back in their world." Denzol finished and Alistare nodded.

"Of course it won't be long until they find their way back in. And Father gave us the will to fight for power." He said, "We have matured ever since his loss. We're not going to be acting like children of war anymore. It'll be back to square one if he ever revives."

Alistare then faced Denzol, "That's why I did what I had to do. In the meantime, we'll focus on our mission for the Kingdom Hearts. And the Kingdom Hearts we will be focused on. Nothing else."

**xXx**

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**Hiya, guys? **This is King Mickey Mouse, giving you an update of what's gonna happen next time on _Online HD_! The roster is almost complete, as Jean-Michel Elincio, Denzel, and Trayne will _all_ debut in this next lengthy chapter, as the teens are getting ready for the biggest event worth waiting for the year: the Winter Homecoming Ball! What mayhem shall awaits them during this eventful bout? And stay tuned as one of their mortal friends finally learns their secret… and Talen gets a disturbing vision that could affect them all, forever.

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******Next Chapter**:: _Homecoming_


	14. Ep12: Homecoming

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**Homecoming**-  
**_

* * *

"This is Trishelle Banks. High school's most reliable gossip girl. Reporting live on all the dish on the what's what, who's who, and everything un-missable about Midlight City High School: the Hollywood of Teenagers"

Gossip girl Trishelle Banks said to the camera in front of the school. Behind her was a mass of crazy fangirls waving in the air posters and signs with the name Jean-Michel Elincio on it. The whole block felt like everyone was awaiting a parade.

"I am here," Trishelle continued her report, "proudly to inform you, that for this year's Homecoming theme, we'll be having a Winter Wonderland! And what better way to celebrate that time of year than with a special guest appearance by our very own Midlight City celebrity icon, Jean-Michel Elincio! Oh my gosh, he's a big-time movie actor, he's a hip-hop artist, he's a racecar driver… he is cute like everything…"

On cue, girls started screaming a furious cheer. Trishelle turned to see what was going on and immediately hyperventilated at the sight of the white limousine pulling out by the curb and security guards getting ready to hold off the crazed fans.

"OH MY GOSH, HEREHECOMES! HEREHECOMES! HEREHECOMES!"

A foot stepped out of the limousine. The feet were wearing fine dress shoes: the celeb's signature style. He sported black pants, and a cool black suede jacket underneath his red warm and stylish shirt. He wore diamond earrings showing off their blings and the actor shielded his eyes with his stylish sunglasses. The celeb was African-American with a strong physique and appeared to have a too-cool personality. Girls went wild at his sight, "SHRRRIEEEEEK!!!"

xXx

Apparently the fans weren't the only ones excited to see Jean-Michel. The Blackhearts Dominion witnessed his arrival at the school through the moon's reflection back at their base.

"So the famed Jean-Michel Elincio comes to the picture at last." Maurchel said.

"It's about time he showed up." Sage replied.

"What are you talking about? He shows up on TV all the time!" Tidicus pointed out, "He's like my favorite celebrity!"

"I know!" Ivy agreed with Tidicus, "I loved him on that one drama series, 'Trinity Magic'"

"Ooh, what about that new action flick he just did, 'Mission So Possible'" Tidicus said, smiling broadly at the thought. The two Blackhearts went on and on about how popular Jean-Michel was until Alistare ruined the mood.

"ENOUGH!" he barked, "He's no longer your favorite celebrity. He's your enemy now. And I suggest that you do the right thing. And that is to steal his Heart of Pure Bravery."

"I believe you have a monster in handy yes?" Maurchel asked Tidicus, who appeared reluctant. He pulled out a remote control and pushed a button as he wept in silence.

A gate opened near the room, catching the villains' attention. There they saw a large snake with the Unversed sign on its neck. The snake's skin was as soft as silk and its body mass was twice the tree trunk weight. It raised itself from the ground as if ready to strike, and roared on cue with its eyes beaming a flashing light.

"Beautiful." Sage smiled, as the Blackhearts watched with a mix of horror and joy.

"Gentlemen. Meet the Ana-Con-Verse!" Tidicus introduced his latest monster, "Artificial unversed that is 100% digital with 1080p surround sound for voice. A bite as deadly as the real thing, and a face that scares the Bee Geebees out of him! But can we please, please,_ please _go easy on him? I so want his autograph!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Me too!" Ivy said, raising her hands in the air and squealing.

The snake roared on cue.

xXx

Inside the Gummi Ship, Chip and Dale, and Goofy and Terra were hard at work, researching lots and lots of sites and apps on the Gummi Net and locations in the KH3OHD game for something very important.

"Any luck Goofy?" Terra asked him.

Goofy shook his head, "Not a thing, Terra." He then called out the chipmunks, "Found something?"

"Negative guys!" Chip said sadly.

"Not a clue." Dale replied solemnly.

"I could have sworn I felt a strong presence in the Realm of Light." Terra said.

"Thunder! Any luck finding anything?" Chip and Dale asked the Keybearer from inside the game.

"Nope! Nothing." He said.

The gang sighed, then pushed a button for release. Thunder reappeared to the Gummi Ship. Thunder reverted back to Rian.

"Are you sure it was King Mickey you sensed earlier Terra?" Rian asked, "It couldn't have been him?"

"I'm positive." Terra said, "Last time he was with me was back at Radiant Kingdom, before I saw Donald and Goofy."

At that moment, Sierra was heard screaming through the ship. She barged into the control room, hyperventilating and overexcited. She couldn't even speak. "Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh! Omigosh!" she inhaled then blurted out, "GUESS WHAT?"

She stopped talking and noticed something, or someone, was missing, "Where's everybody?"

"Uhh… they're at school?" Rian clarified.

"Oh!" she said before quickly dismissing that thought, and went back to her excitement, "Guess who's coming to our high school! OUR high school?"

Rian, Donald, Goofy, and Terra were ready to speak, but Sierra quickly interrupted them, "OKAY! STOP GUESSING! JEAN-MICHEL ELINCIO'S IN OUR HIGH SCHOOL!"

"Whoa! Jean-Michel Elincio?" Rian looked surprised, "Isn't he like a Kingdom Hearts player or something? I heard he's the richest KH player yet!"

"Who cares about that?" Sierra threw a hand in dismissal, "He's like THE biggest celebrity icon in the world!" she squealed, quickly filling Donald, Goofy, and Terra on the-know, "His albums have outsold all R&B singers, he did all awesome movies like that romantic comedy 'Trinity Magic'!"

"…and that new action flick 'Mission So Possible'." Rian added.

"I KNOW!" Sierra blurted out, "No really! And guess what again?"

The heroes opened their mouths to speak but Sierra blurted out again, "HE'S GONNA BE THE NEW HOMECOMING KING FOR THE BALL!"

xXx

The heroes—except Terra, Donald and Goofy who were still back in the ship—were at the school halls' popular corner to check out posters that had spread out across the school hallways. The information in the poster was proof enough that Sierra wasn't lying after all.

"JEAN-MICHEL ELINCIO IS THE CHOSEN HOMECOMING KING FOR THE BALL?!" Pierre felt his jaws dropped.

"I KNOW, OMG!" Sierra squealed like an overexcited mouse, not realizing the uneasiness in her boyfriend's face, "This is a blog moment."

"Not really." Pierre disagreed.

"Aw, I'm so happy for you girl!" Taylor said, feeling tears in her eyes, "I wish I was running for homecoming." She then looked up in space, dreamily, "Oh, just think. If I were homecoming nominee, and I have won, I would have so—!"

She stopped talking once she saw Matt staring at her with a wary look. She changed her end sentence, "…dance with my boyfriend. And my boyfriend alone!" she gave Matt a kiss. The relieved Matt kissed back.

"Hey, isn't Jean-Michel Elincio, Talen's cousin?" Violet asked, before looking around for him among her group, but he was not here, "Where _is_ Talen anyway?" she asked.

All eyes looked around. No signs of Talen. They then saw Axel running toward them, completely sweaty like he ran a marathon. He immediately opened his mouth to speak but found it difficult to do so. He started panting and his chest heaved up and down.

"Hey, guys! G-guys!" he gasped. "Guys! GUYYS!"

"Woah, a little less talking, and a little more deep breath." Matt advised the excited teen.

Axel finally calmed down, able to speak again, "Have you guys seen Talen?"

"We were just looking for him." Rian responded, "Why?"

"Well, he was like right behind me, ready to end me and—!" He suddenly stopped talking. He felt all wary eyes fixated on him, eyes asking a 'what did you do again?' question. He grinned innocently and changed subjects, "So, you haven't seen Talen, huh?"

"What did you do?" Violet scowled, finally asking that question.

"Can we talk about Kami instead?" he changed subjects again, "Now, she's hot! Speaking of, where is she anyway?"

"She left for the hospital to see her brother." Taylor quickly informed before she stepped in front of Axel along with the teens, ready to corner Axel, "Axel, what have you done now?"

"Well…" Axel reminisced…

After a moment, his friends exploded in shock, "What?"

"You put Talen Brightfire in detention?" Rian shouted. Then Matt added, "With my sister as the detention staff?!"

"Is that bad?" Axel asked, despite seeing the tension in everyone's faces. He felt like he had just committed a serious crime and just found out about it.

Pierre laughed, patting Axel's back like a good friend, "Dude, you just signed yourself a death warrant." He laughed, "Talen's gonna come at you like a hunted dog!"

Everyone started laughing hard and Axel didn't like that. Then Rian added to Pierre's comment, "Oh! Or, he's gonna scorch you scarred!"

They all shrieked with laughter. Axel cowered, "But… all I said was he was good at Calculus and I was bad."

"The Calculus you made Principal Law thinks he cheated on!" Sierra said, however sounding upset, "Now he's not gonna be at the Homecoming Ball. I was so excited for that event, when he and Jean-Michel Elincio meet again!" she then looked up dreamily, "Just think: I could be dancing with the two best popular guys in school."

"But… Sierra…" Taylor tried to reason with her best friend, "…you hate Talen."

But Sierra was already lost in her fantasy, "Not when he's related to the hottest hunk in the universe… Ohhh…"

"Speaking of hunk." Rian pointed everyone's attention to the star of Hollywood, strolling down the school hallways. Screaming fans that were following were pushing and shoving, and security guards were restricting their very fast-pacing movement. Jean-Michel had his own taskmaster following him everywhere he went. The taskmaster's face looked geeky. But strangely enough, it looked familiar.

"Now 10:30AM we have arrived at the school, and are heading down the main office to get a formal greeting from the Principal Lawrence Winchester. Now he's a ruthless guy they say. He confiscates every electronic you own or carry in classrooms for five years straight. That's like the longest period since my principal confiscated my candy!"

Jean-Michel stopped. He raised his arm to stop the taskmaster from taking another step. The taskmaster looked up to Jean-Michel with a stunned expression, "Something's wrong, JM?"

Jean-Michel coldly glanced over his taskmaster. The taskmaster cowered.

"Yo, what did I say about calling me by acronym?" Jean-Michel finally spoke, carrying a fluent blend of English and French accent.

"Err…" the taskmaster stammered.

"It's Jean-Michel." The celeb added before turning back, "JM don't sound cool when people like you say it." He said, stereotypically referring to the taskmaster's geekiness personality.

"Uh… Right, right! My apologies. But why are we stopping? I mean, why have we stopped?" the taskmaster demanded. Jean-Michel removed his sun shades to reveal his cocky brown eyes, and redirected them to the heroes.

"_Keyblade_." He whispered.

The heroes all looked at each other, froze up by what he said. Then Matt spoke, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

" 'course I said something!" Jean-Michel responded absurdly, "What did you think?" he then came close to Sierra and with a romantic, but still cocky smile, he gently caressed her blonde hair, "…that I wouldn't smell my beautiful fragrance again? The _Keyblade_?"

"Huh?" The gang appeared lost at what he said. Jean-Michel snapped his finger and his taskmaster pulled out a gift basket of all the fragrance with the name "_Keyblade_" on it. The fragrance had a pointy shape but with a cap that was shaped like a miniature Keyblade.

"They come in all varieties: _Brave Warrior_ for men, and _Sensual Princess_ for women! Inspired by my all-time favorite game _KH III Online HD, _now available at all retail stores._" _He then winked at Sierra and pointed the gun-fingers at the heroes, "Look it up!" he said before sporting out his sunglasses again and walked away.

There was a complete silence in the hall, like there was no one. Then like a sudden explosion, Sierra let out a shrieking scream that followed by all the girls in the school shrieking like that as well. The excitement of Jean-Michel Elincio in the school was just too overwhelming.

"SHRRRIEEEEEK!!!"

"Is this what we're gonna be living with all day long, until the end of Homecoming?" Pierre shouted through the crazed noise, before Sierra shrieked in response, "HE TOUCHED ME! HE TOUCHED ME! HE HAS TOUCH-ED MEEEEEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeE!!!"

"I'll take that as a yes!" Pierre helplessly shouted.

xXx

Detention room. Talen was working hard on his Calculus make-up exam.

"Use the logarithmic differentiation to find a derivative formula for the function F(t) = the 5th root of E to the t times arc-tangent of t over 6 tangent cube times t times the 5th root of t to the power of—GRRR!"

Talen slammed down his pencil. "I'm gonna kill Axel." He muttered, burying his hands around his face then finally cupping his cheeks to stare at the function problem. It was at this point that Talen noticed something in the 5th root of E. It looked like the blending of a Keyblade with a crooked arc handle.

He then noticed the 6th tangent cube. He pictured the 6 as the sun, and the tangent cube, as different Keys in each character coiled in a different shape. Before he knew it, the dreaded calculus equation had turned into a red-hot soiled field with a cool temperature, and thousands of Keyblades stabbed to the ground, surrounding him.

"What in blaze—?"

He suddenly heard clashing of the swords, as if there was fighting nearby. He turned around, but still saw nothing. Nothing but the mass graveyard of Keyblades—light and dark ones—over that wilderness: the gathering. The noise he kept on hearing gradually grew from clashing of the swords to battle cries: cries of pain, cries of tears, cries of help… all kind of cries one could hear in a war.

Talen heard a Keyblade pulling out of the ground. He turned around and saw a figure, aiming the Keyblade at him. The figure wasn't a Blackheart. It wore a suit of armor. It was a Keyblade Knight!

_…Keyblade War… _it whispered in a breathing fashion underneath the helmet, Darth-Vader style.

Talen couldn't believe his eyes. At first, he thought it was Terra, but once he saw it was someone else, he didn't had the chance to retaliate, and he found himself back on his seat, staring at the tough Calculus equation.

"Hey! Wake up Sleepyhead!"

Halee Salazar was right in front of him. Halee was not your average teacher. She was the youngest and hottest teachers in the school in the art subject. She was also the sister of Matt and the most nosey one also, because she would always get herself involved in a private situation _every _time_. _Likeright now when she caught Talen in his latest vision.

"Whoa…" he whispered, just thinking about this.

"Are you okay?" Halee asked him. Talen finally shook his head, returning to solid ground, "Oh… um… yeah. Fine. Why do you… ahem… why do you ask?"

"You've been staring at this blank Calculus test for an hour and a half already." Halee informed him, before reaching out for his paper, "You detention's session over and so is your test. Time to turn this—!"

Talen pulled away, "No! I mean, can I get like five more minutes? Sorry. I was having a moment."

Halee sighed, "Ohh-kay. If you say so. But you gotta let me in on your dreams sometimes, Brightfire. You seemed to be enjoying this."

Talen shook his head, scoffing, "Yeah right." there was nothing enjoyable about what he just saw. He readied his pencil and was about to scribble his answers to the test.

"Psst! Hey, yo."

He heard a voice. He looked back and saw two students among a small number of delinquents in the detention room, catching his attention. The first student had grey eyes with brown hair and wore a white shirt with the FF8 logo and black pants. The second student, who was possibly his buddy, was African-American with dark blue eyes, black hair and a long ponytail with red highlights. He wore a black shirt with _PacMan_ on it and a black leather jacket with a red tint to it. He wore black ripped jeans and black and red Nike shoes.

Glaring at the two students, Talen wasn't aware he had company.

"What'chu want?" he asked, almost rudely.

The first student leaned over to Talen and spoke, "I know who you are, you're Talen Brightfire. Popular kid in school, first to Matt Salazar, Pierre Brock, and Rian Rivers." He looked around to see if no one was watching before he added, "Name's Denzel." He then introduced his buddy, "And this is my bro from another mo, Trayne."

Trayne just gave him the chin-up greet, " 'sup."

"We know the answers to your test." Denzel said, before winking.

Talen simply stared at Denzel, then at Trayne, as if they were talking crazy. "Uhh… nice try." He returned to his Calculus exam and without another word, went for it, finishing every problem neatly before five minutes could strike. "Done!" he declared, handing it over to Halee, and leaving Denzel and Trayne stunned.

"Wow, Brightfire! Great job!" she smiled broadly, "Even though I suck at Math, I'm impressed!"

"Whatever. Can I get out of here now?" Talen said.

"Uh, not so fast." Halee stopped him before he could step a foot out of the room, "you're on cleaning duty and ticket duty with Denzel and Trayne. So you ain't off the hook yet." Halee almost sounded singsongy.

Talen felt like he just saw a nasty car crash. He was that surprised, "B…bu…but what about Homecoming?" he exclaimed.

"Ooh, yeah." Denzel joined in the conversation, "About that, believe me…" he wrapped his hand around Talen's shoulder as if he was a good friend, "they said all bridges are closed, the roads are closed, the hills are blocked…"

"…technically, Homecoming is done, man." Trayne added. That news didn't reassure Talen. Heck it made him glare some more at his detention buddies.

"But hey! Guess what?" Denzel sounded over-enthusiastic all of the sudden, "At least you get to listen to Jean-Michel Elincio's latest smash hit single from his new movie 'Mission So Possible: So-So Possible'! He's performing it live at the Homecoming Ball!"

Trayne and Denzel sang along their favorite line, "Possible! Uh-huh! Uh-huh! So-So Possible!"

Talen felt like screaming, realizing that he was gonna miss the most important dance of the year, and a chance to find and gloat at his rival cousin celeb Jean-Michel to the school! Already he knew just what and who to scream at,

"AXEeEeEeEeEeEL!!!"

* * *

It's time for the **Kingdom Hearts Trivia**!

(Where we ask fans everything about the development of the Kingdom Hearts series)

Hey everyone, It's Rian Rivers. Got a quick question for ya: Do you know where the idea of _Kingdom Hearts_ took place?

* * *

xXx

Homecoming Ball. The greatest event of all high school kids' lives, where they can enjoy dancing, hanging out and eating all junks they can eat.

The gym had transformed into a massive dance floor adorned with snowflakes, blue ornaments, and blinking lights, just to celebrate winter. The gym was also blasting with the hottest music and was choke-full of students. Sierra was ravishing in her silk, curve-shaped blue evening gown, and her hair was attached in a two story bun with a tiara.

"Sierra!"

She turned to greet Taylor and Violet approaching. Taylor looked might fine in her red party gown with a knee-reaching skirt. Her hair were worn down and looked fantastic. Violet wore a sexy lime-colored ruffles dress with a light blue translucent cape by her colon. Her hair was similar to Sierra's, except they were purplish black.

"Ooh, girls! You look fantastic!" Sierra squealed.

"Thank you! So do you!" Taylor said to Sierra.

"Any words on Jean-Michel?" Violet asked.

Sierra looked around the gym.

"We've arrived at the Midlight City High School Homecoming Ball at approximately 9:30 PM!" Taylor and Violet heard someone speak from a distance and finally spotted Jean-Michel entering the room from the other exit, surrounded by two of his bodyguards, heavy-built like rocks, and his taskmaster. His presence caught a lot of attention. Violet pointed Sierra her favorite celebrity.

"We are soon gonna be surrounded by crazed fans of Jean-Michel's music and newest movie 'Mission So Possible', and of course endorser of the all-for-all cologne _Keyblade._" The taskmaster continued to speak on his iPhone that had the recording apps for him to record his diary. He then locked his iPhone and faced one of the bodyguards, "…and remember, protect Jean-Michel Elincio. Keep an eye on him, got it?"

"Roger that." The bodyguard mumbled in a monotone.

Before the taskmaster knew it, Jean-Michel's crazed fans ran toward him and completely surrounded him for autographs. Jean-Michel, still looking as smug as ever, gladly started signing their autographs. Sierra couldn't stop staring at him from the distance and drooling.

"There he is…" she sighed, "…the man of my dream……"

Ahem!

Sierra saw Pierre behind her, along with Matt, Axel, and Rian. The guys were ravishing in their cool tuxedo and party outfits. Sierra blinked to reality before changing her tune, "Err… I mean the man… of every _other _girls', except me's, dreams."

Pierre narrowed his eyes, "Uh-huh." He mumbled in disbelief, "So, what's so special about this guy anyway? Besides the fact that he's like the biggest celebrity in the world, and the richest player in _Kingdom Hearts III Online HD_?"

"Gosh, he thinks he's so perfect…" Matt mumbled, unable to pull away from his cocky smile. He wasn't such a big fan of Jean-Michel himself. His smile irritated him.

"He doesn't think he's perfect!" Taylor corrected her boyfriend, before being enthralled by Jean-Michel's charm as well, "He _is _perfect."

"Hey, guys! You know what I've realized?" Axel began, coming up with an idea, "If Jean-Michel is a KH player, that means his Keybearer form must exist in this universe too!"

"Your point being?" Matt asked as if he didn't care.

"What's the one thing that is always after us, Keybearers; always after our Hearts of Pure Bravery?" Axel declared, "Come on, I'll give you a hint: they…" he paused dramatically, "…got a black _heart_."

The heroes immediately got the hint. "You're right!" Rian agreed, "The Dominion might be coming after him too!"

"So," Axel articulated, "we gotta protect him!"

"Aw…" Sierra whined, "I don't wanna protect Jean-Michel Elincio! I wanna enjoy my homecoming night with him!" her words clearly disturbed Pierre, but of course, she didn't notice that. She continued, "Can we talk about this some other—!"

Before she could finish she saw something shocking. Something she never thought she'll see in her life. It was horrifying!

"What is it?" Taylor asked the frozen Sierra. She looked over at the direction she was staring at. She appeared shocked as well. All attention turned toward that direction.

It was Milene Vitali! And she was with Jean-Michel!

Milene appeared sultry in her red silk high-slit robe that only revealed one leg.

"Hi, JM…" Milene greeted him amorously and pressing herself close to him till she felt him, "remember me? I'm your biggest fan," she wrapped her arms around his neck and her exposed leg around his waist, like she was ready to kiss him any second. That angered Sierra.

"…and your one true Homecoming queen." She went on, bashing her eyes at him. "Now I'm sure you want me, do you?"

Sierra knew that evil little smile on Milene's face the moment she saw it. And _nothing_ good ever came from it.

"Uh-oh. Looks like somebody got your man…" Axel whispered, singsong-y, not realizing Pierre's presence for a second. He then realized that and changed tune, "I mean, your favorite celeb!"

"Hold up!" Jean-Michel snapped at Milene, whose eyes flew open in sudden shock. Thought she had him under his skin, but he was glaring at her in absolute disgust. Sierra appeared shocked too, but her face gleamed.

"Did you just call me JM?" Jean-Michel questioned Milene.

Milene fretted, not knowing what to do or say next. But Sierra let out a broad smile. Jean-Michel hated when people called him JM. She couldn't wait to see what was coming.

"I _like_ it." He said that instead in a whisper, "Sounds hot on you." He growled low in his throat like a feral jungle cat.

"WHAT?" Sierra's jaws dropped, but Milene smirked at JM's sudden change in character. With a feral grin and a growl in return, she planted him a thunderous kiss that sent a shock wave across the ball, "GAAAASP!"

The heroes stood there in disbelief. Sierra's eyes took the size of golf balls at this sight. Violet burst out laughing, being the only one who was not serious. "OH MY GOSH… THAT WAS… THAT WAS… THAT—GAAAAH! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

"Hey! Break it off!" the taskmaster tried to pull Milene off JM, but she wouldn't let go. "I said break it off!" He snapped at the bodyguards who snapped back to reality from being hypnotized by that disturbing display, "HEY! Get that mangy teenager off Jean-Michel Elincio! NOW!"

"Coming boss!" The bodyguards quickly closed in on Milene, ready to pull her from Jean-Michel. But Milene quickly removed her grasp off Jean-Michel and her lips as well before they could get to her.

She gently wiped off the kiss from her lips, and said to the guards, "Don't touch the outfit. I'll show myself out." and walked away, briefly giving Sierra a wink. Sierra's face turned red and steams were shooting out of her ears.

"She moved on already? I thought she was all over me." Rian commented.

Trishelle who was nearby, spoke to the camera, "Oh… mahgosh! You just saw it firsthand! Drama sparkling at tonight's Homecoming! Milene Vitali just kissed celebrity sensation Jean-Michel Elincio. And girls, especially Sierra, are _sooo _not happy about it."

"I know!" Axel exclaimed, facing the camera as well and interrupting Trish's report, "I smell a catfight coming people! Do _you_ smell a catfight coming? I do!"

Confused Trish blinked at Axel, and then faced the camera, then back at Axel "…who are you talking to? I'm trying to have a report!"

"Uh, hellooo. Who are _you _talking to?"

(Anyway, moving on…) A fuming Sierra dashed off, screaming, "That's it!" and the heroes followed her.

"Sierra, where are you going?" Pierre called out to her.

"That woman has crossed the line!" Sierra responded, "She's gonna pay!" she took off and the others followed. But Pierre stood behind with a saddened look on his face. "Yeah, go fight for your new boyfriend." He sighed.

Meanwhile, the taskmaster and the bodyguards were trying to keep the crazed girls from taking another step close to Jean-Michel. "HEY!" the taskmaster screamed, "NO ONE comes in near or close to Jean-Michel ANYMORE! Autograph time is OVER!"

The girls groaned in disappointment. The taskmaster then faced the bodyguards, "Boys! Take him away!"

The guards started dragging Jean-Michel, who still looked head-rushed from that kiss. The taskmaster followed behind, an evil expression crossed his face as he gazed the out-of-controlled ballroom. "Nobody's taking him from me. Nobody."

He finally reached the exit and his geeky look morphed back to his true self: Tidicus!

"Nobody." He growled under his breath. He pulled out his remote control and pushed the button. The Ana-Con-Verse formed a massive shadow behind Tidicus, lurking and glaring around for its target. Tidicus faced the shadow, "Take care of everything."

The Ana-Con-Verse growled and Tidicus left.

xXx

"HEY!"

Milene jumped at the scream of Sierra. She turned to see the blond teen girl approaching her, ready to deliver her a beating. The rest of the heroes except Pierre followed her behind. Milene smiled briefly, "Oh…!" she then frowned in disgust, "it's you."

"Yes it's me you wench!" Sierra barked, "How can you do this to me? Is it because I won the pageant? You wanna get back at me?"

"Oh, still dwelling about the past?" Milene acted all sweetly, "I thought we were past this, but since you insist."

"First you go after Matt, then you go after Pierre, then you go after Rian—! What are you, some sort of gold digger?"

Milene looked around for something, like she was ignoring Sierra's insults, "Speaking of Pierre, where is he?" she asked her, interrupting.

Sierra looked around her friends. There was Rian, Matt, Taylor, Violet, Axel, but no Pierre. She hesitated. Milene went on, "In case you didn't notice, your boyfriend is extremely jealous of your involvement with JM. So technically, me kissing him was no act of vengeance. It was act of deliverance. And yes, I _did_ call him JM, because he likes to hear that coming from _me_!"

"You know what, Sierra. Don't let her get to your skin. Let's leave." Taylor told her friend, and everyone was ready to depart. But Sierra wasn't gonna leave without the last word, "You know what, Milene? Do what you want to hurt me, but sooner or later, you're gonna end up being an older bitter woman under the same roof of forty-seven cats with no love… and no future." She said these last phrases nose-to-nose with her in low tone.

"Oooh! That's gotta hurt." Axel said, not able to contain himself from the excitement.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! It's time for the moment you've all been waiting for! The crowning for your new Homecoming Queen!" Tidus was announcing to the whole ball room. Tidus looked fine in his four-piece dark-blue prom tux.

The heroes left Milene all bitter and fuming, just in time for the big moment. "Grrr…"

xXx

Talen, Denzel, and Trayne were all in the school park with Halee, fashionably late for homecoming. Talen looked fine in his black checkered sweater-vest over a white formal shirt and Fedora hat. Trayne's hot sunglasses were a nice touch to his leather jacket's outfit, and Denzel had a red blazer and white hoodie. Halee also appeared sexy in a similar dress than Milene, but violet.

"Fashionably late for homecoming was the best idea you've ever had, Talen Brightfire." Denzel sounded too excited. "And what's more excited is that we got a HOT teacher!" he giggled, not able to stop staring at Halee. Halee felt repulsed.

"Yo, yo, YO!" Talen exclaimed at Denzel, "What did I just say? Look cool and confident. Girls will fawn over you for that, yeah? And yes, I gotta admit, Ms. Salazar looks mighty fine."

"Kids, I thought we weren't gonna talk inappropriately at my presence." Halee reminded the boys.

"Sheesh, Ms. Salazar." Trayne removed his sunglasses to stare Halee down, "We ain't in detention anymore. Stop arching our mellow."

A chilly breeze suddenly touched Talen. Talen looked around, having this feeling that someone was following him. He looked to face Denzel, Trayne and Halee, but they were gone. He saw himself back at the gathering, surrounded by the mass Keyblade graveyard again. He then saw the Keyblade knight he saw earlier, still pointing the Keyblade at him.

The Keyblade knight spoke faintly. Talen couldn't understand what the knight was saying and had trouble making out the words. But when he finally did, he was shocked. _Don't… let Thunder… perish…? _He repeated.

"What does that supposed to mean?" he shouted.

Before he knew it, he was back in the school gardens. The guys and Halee were all staring at him.

"Thunder perish?" Trayne repeated.

"Yo man, you're okay?" Denzel asked.

Talen quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought, "Of course I'm okay!" he snapped, "What'chu looking at me for? We got a dance to crash."

The band of four suddenly bumped into Tidicus and the bodyguards. Tidicus saw Talen, and knowing that he cannot morph back to JM's taskmaster to hide his identity, he looked away.

"Hey, what's going on?" Halee asked, "No leaving school grounds till after the dance."

"We got orders." One of the bodyguards said to the band of four, "So move it!"

"Hey, is that Jean-Michel Elincio?" Denzel saw the person the bodyguards were carrying and almost fluttered. Trayne and Talen saw him too. Talen was surprised to see Jean-Michel still looking dazed.

"Hey, what's up with—!" Trayne tried to speak but got cut off.

"OHMYGOSH! It's Jean-Michel Elincio!" Halee screamed, "I can't believe this!" she quickly approached Jean-Michel, pushing the bodyguards away, "HEY!" They screamed.

Jean-Michel snapped back to reality, "Huh? What?"

Halee closed in on JM and froze, hesitant yet too excited, "I cannot believe you are really him, in the flesh!"

JM couldn't help but smirk, "You bet I am in the flesh." He said.

"Can I have your autograph? Sign my arm. Make it a tattoo." Halee said before revealing her shoulder and handed JM a pen. Denzel, Trayne, and Talen looked away embarrassed by Halee's behavior, "Ms. Salazar…" they sighed exasperatedly.

"Yo, what happened to you out there?" Talen approached JM.

"Well, 'sup with you too, cuz." JM grinned.

"Stop being so cocky. That's my thing." Talen snapped.

"Whoa, look!" Trayne pointed. All attention turned to the bodyguards who were knocked down by Halee. Their bodies were slowly transforming and to their biggest shock they turned to Darkballs.

The pureblood heartless swung around the teens and Halee. Halee screamed in terror before she fainted.

"Is that—?" JM said.

"Heartless?" Talen, Denzel, and Trayne said together with JM. The four guys looked at each other, surprised.

"Wait a minute; aren't they supposed to be in the _Kingdom Hearts III Online HD _game?" Denzel exclaimed.

"Aren't they supposed to not exist?" Trayne asked.

"Apparently, they do." Talen said before he summoned his Keyblade to the three guys' astonishment, "Stay back!"

Before he could jump into attack, the Darkballs vanished into purple clouds and misted up the gang in blinding smoke.

"You're the one who should stay back."the gang heard Ivy speak. Before they knew it, vines shot out from the cloudy smoke, pinning Denzel, Trayne, Talen, and JM to a wall. The vines quickly spread out, constricting them in place.

"Hey! wh-what gives?" Talen struggled, so where the guys.

Ivy revealed herself from the cloudy smoke, alongside Tidicus.

"You!" Talen growled at her presence.

"Hey," JM saw Tidicus, "aren't you my taskmaster?" he asked, "What'chu doing here?"

"We came for one thing and one thing only." Ivy interrupted him. She then faced Tidicus, "You know what to do."

"I told you, I don't want to do this!" Tidicus whined. Ivy still glared down at Tidicus. Tidicus sighed exasperatedly, "Fine. But if he gets hurt, it's your fault."

He finally pushed the remote control button and the Ana-Con-Verse emerged from the ground, casting horror on the four guys. The great serpent tackled Jean-Michel, crumbling the wall in process, and whisked him away to the sky with Ivy and Tidicus riding on its back and yowling.

"HEY!" Talen screamed, "You're not getting away with my cousin, jerk!" He angrily struggled before his body took flame and scorched the vines, setting him free. Denzel and Trayne were astonished. Talen summoned his Keyblade back, pointed at his target in the sky, and shot a stream of fire, striking the great serpent down.

The Ana-Con-Verse roared in pain. Tidicus and Ivy were screaming, as the great beast was falling to its doom and crashed through the building where the Homecoming Ball was on. Talen ran back inside, leaving Denzel and Trayne still tied up on the vines.

"HEY! Where are you going? Aren't you gonna help?" Denzel exclaimed.

"Stay there!" Talen ordered the two guys before entering the ball.

"So much for fashionably late." Trayne complained.

xXx

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE HAVE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED OUR NEWEST HOMECOMING QUEEN!" Tidus announced at the ball's center stage, before ripping open the sealed envelope, "Give it up for the beautiful and talented… Sierra Stellaserah!"

The crowd cheered oh-so-loudly for Sierra, and so were her friends. Sierra was chocked up with joy. She couldn't believe she got the title. Best of all, she get to dance the Homecoming dance with Jean-Michel Elincio. Wherever he was, she though, briefly looking around before stepping to the center stage to get her crown.

Her overwhelming excitement had surely made her forget about her real boyfriend Pierre. He was smiling, happy for her victory. But his smile was faint. He had surely lost his girlfriend for some rich celebrity, dumping a poor-average guy like himself, like some weeks-old spoiled banana. He sighed and readied to leave the gym and heading home, when the double doors suddenly busted open in front of him and he bumped into Talen.

"Talen!" Pierre appeared surprised, "What are you—!"

"Pierre, stay back!" Talen exclaimed, "And get ready to transform to your Keybearer!"

Pierre looked confused, "Why?"

On cue, the Ana-Con-Verse crashed through the ceiling, sending panic across the ball as everyone spread out for safety.

"Oh, so that's why." Pierre mumbled.

The Ana-Con-Verse raised its body up in full-recovery and faced everyone in the ballroom, hissing and terrorizing. Talen didn't hesitate to transform to Blazen and summoned his Keyblade.

"YOU ARE GONNA PAAYY!" Tidicus was heard, screaming out from on top of the monster. The colossal beast caught the rest of the teen heroes' attention.

"Woah, beast." Axel pointed.

The surprised Sierra saw JM on the ground, struggling to get up. She sprinted for his aid, "Jean-Michel!"

The Ana-Con-Verse spotted Sierra, "Target acquired, Tidicus!" Ivy ordered her hesitant partner, "You said no one's gonna get hurt." He whined.

"Just push the button." Ivy ordered and Tidicus obeyed despite grumbling. He pushed the button and the Ana-Con-Verse spat out a gooey ball, going straight for Sierra. Pierre saw Sierra in trouble and jumped in, taking the hit. Pierre hit the ground hard, and got completely paralyzed.

"Pierre!" Sierra ran for her boyfriend's aid, "Oh no! You're hurt!"

"I'm…I'm f-fine…" Pierre grunted in pain, not feeling any of his arms and legs moving.

"You paralyzed my boyfriend!" Sierra barked at Ivy.

"Oh, boohoo." Ivy mocked, "I thought you had moved on. What happened to your Jean-Michel crush?"

Sierra stood up to face the enemies, "He may be a crush." She said, "But Pierre is my life! And you mess with my life, I mess with yours!"

On cue she transformed to Ciel. Unknown to her, Milene who was hiding from the gym's main door at the trophy room, saw her transformed. She soon saw the rest of the gang, except Pierre and JM all transforming to their Keybearers. She couldn't believe her eyes. "What in freak…?" she uttered.

"You're gonna pay dearly!" Ciel barked before shooting Water from her Keyblade. The Ana-Con-Verse dodged, Ivy dodged, but the water nailed Tidicus off the snake. The snake shot out another Paralysis Spit attack. Ciel dodged.

"Come on guys, let's help them out!" Thunder ordered and everyone jumped into the action. Thunder casted Thunder attack; Blazen, Soledad, and Cross both casted Fire; Flora casted Aero; and Sharx's Keyblade turned to his gun and he started shooting. The Ana-Con-Verse hissed, started swaying and thrashing around the school in an out-of-control manner, and zoomed right toward the Keybearers

"Watch out!" Sharx exclaimed. The Keybearers ducked for safety. But the fast and cunning Ana-Con-Verse swept them off their feet for a ride along. Tidicus and Ivy were laughing maniacally.

"You'll never take us alive!" Ivy hissed like a crazed woman before casting Aeroga both sides, sweeping away two Keybearers. Flora took the wind Ivy casted and rode on it toward her. "Forget it, witch! You're done!" she zoomed past Ivy and with a stroke of her Keyblade, Ivy was off the snake. The snake kept thrashing around, and the Keybearers kept on screaming.

Ivy and Tidicus saw their beast was getting out of control. Tidicus pulled out his remote control and pushed the button, but nothing happened.

"Keep pushing!" Ivy barked. "I'M TRYING!" Tidicus hissed.

The beast kept crashing and thrashing everywhere, until it was heading straight for a wall. The gang didn't know what to do next, but scream some more.

"Guys, let's jump!" Cross ordered and the Keybearers jumped out of the way, watching the Ana-Con-Verse still dashing for the wall.

Suddenly the snake felt a burst of speed zooming past him in a strike. The snake twirled around by impact. Then a gush of water came from out of the blue and shot from the ground, blasting the snake up in the air to a laying position. The Keybearers spread out of the snake's way before it could crash.

"WHAT?" Tidicus exclaimed, "It can't be! IT JUST CAN'T BE!"

The Keybearers all turned their attention to what Tidicus was crying about. And they too were surprised, especially Blazen.

"Denzel and Trayne?!" he exclaimed.

"No." Denzel's Keybearer-self corrected. "It's Aegis and Tandem." The teens were in their Keybearers forms. Denzel had a Keyblade that resembled Riku's Keyblade from _KH2_ without the wing tip which he calls Garn. He wore a white vest and black shirt and the rest of his wardrobe was similar to final form. Aegis has spiky white hair and blue eyes. Tandem had white hair with light-blue highlights. His shirt was light blue at the bottom and transitions to white, and his jacket white, tinted light blue. His jeans weren't ripped this time, but were crisp with a light blue line going down them, and shoes were white. He too had his Keyblade out.

"You two are Keybearers too?" Blazen exclaimed.

"We didn't know that until now." Aegis responded.

"Ready?" Tandem faced Aegis before transforming his Keyblade to Rotor Mode. He tossed it toward the Ana-Con-Verse, and started controlling it with his hands as if by wind magic. Aegis powered up a burst of flame from his hand and shot out Firescatter. The fire imbued into the Rotor and in an extreme speed, scythed through the Ana-Con-Verse. The beast cried out in pain, short-circuited electricity flew apart from it.

"My beast!" Tidicus cried out.

"Let me deal with it." Blazen said.

"No! Let _me _deal with it!" Ciel interrupted.

"Alright, fine then. We'll do it together. Supernova!" Blazen cried out.

"Chilly Stab!" Ciel cried out also.

The duo took focus on their enemy. Blazen covered in flames, flew into the air then started shooting out multiple of flames, while Ciel shaped a harp from water and used it as a bow with lots of ice picks as arrows, and on contact took the shot. The flames and the ice picks danced in harmony as they traveled from their casters to the dying snake. The snake detonated, rending a massive explosion in the gym.

The smoke cleared up and debris of the Ana-Con-Verse was falling. Tidicus was horrified, "MY BABY!" Tidicus wailed, picking up pieces of what remained of the beast.

The teens morphed back to their regular selves.

"That's what you get from messing with us." Talen said, and high-fived Sierra who high-fived back, "Yeah, that's right." Sierra added. The teens went to Pierre and JM's aids.

"Pierre, are you okay?" Sierra asked him, "I am so, so, sorry! I've been such a jerk!"

Pierre smiled, shaking his head, "Nah, I forgive you… thanks for still caring."

"Yo, man. What was that beast? And that Keyblade on your hand?" JM confronted Talen as his cousin was helping him up to his feet, "Think you got some explaining to do."

"Do _you _really wanna know?" Talen asked JM. Before JM could respond, Talen heard someone he so wanted to inflict vengeance on.

"HEEEEY, TALEN!"

Talen's eyes narrowed at the sight of Axel. Axel was brimming with smiles, "Good to see you man! You missed out on so much fun!"

Talen smiled back, "Axel, my man. How about a hug?" he raised his arms for one.

"Love to, but no thanks." Axel shook his head.

"Aw, come on, man!" Talen approached him. Axel receded, "Don't you wanna hug for old time's sake?"

"Not when you wanna punch me!"

Grr…

The teens turned around at the growling sound of Tidicus. Tidicus and Ivy were still there, not ready to give up.

"You reckless evil rats!" Tidicus screamed, "Do you know how much you owe me for a new Ana-Con-Verse?!"

"Give it up, Tidicus. You're done for." Matt said.

"We ain't gonna be listening to you, traitor." Ivy barked at Matt, "It's time you meet your doom."

With a snap of the finger, Tidicus summoned a group of heartless, cornering the teens in a circle. The teens summoned their Keyblades without transforming to their Keybearers first. Before the heartless got the chance to attack, they suddenly vanished in dark smoke to everyone's surprise. "What?" Tidicus shouted.

"Playtime's over, lady and gent." A voice took over the gym. Without much anticipation, the figure who just spoke came to sight as if by thin air. It was Phantamis. The Keybearers readied their weapons.

"Phantamis!" Tidicus cried out, "You're ruining our plans here!"

"Plan time is over." Phantamis informed the two Blackhearts, "You've failed."

"Failed?" Ivy complained, "What do you mean failed?"

"Failed, as in Zero, loser, F, underachiever… that failed." Phantamis said, "May I suggest you, to head back to the stronghold and stay there. Cause our plans have changed."

"What plan?" Axel asked, "What are you talking about, Blackheart?"

Phantamis turned to face Axel and the teens, "Excuse me?" he said rudely, "Trying to have a private conversation here." He turned back to Tidicus and Ivy, "Like I was saying…"

"I thought our plan was to get Jean-Michel Elincio's heart! Not stop our plan to take Jean-Michel Elincio's heart!" Tidicus cried out.

"What, wait, whoa… my heart?" JM said, "Can someone tell me what's up with y'all, man?"

"Oh, I'll tell you what's up." Phantamis replied, "Plans have changed. Case closed. By order of Alistare, gotta eliminate something that'll interfere our plan. Eenie…" he pointed at Tidicus, "Meenie…" he pointed at Ivy, "Minee…" he pointed at himself, surprising, yet confusing everyone. Finally, he pointed at Rian, "MOE!"

A thin violet beam shot from Phantamis' finger and struck Rian in the heart. Rian screamed in pain as the violet beam locked him in place, making his body burning up.

"Rian!" The gang panicked. They ran to help him out, but Phantamis' eyes gleamed on cue, and they froze in place.

"What are you doing?" Ivy screamed at Phantamis who was still working his deathly magic on Rian.

"Eliminating the problem, what do you think?" Phantamis said with a charming smile.

"What about the plan?" Tidicus shouted. But Phantamis ignored his plea, "Time to get erased, Rian." He said to the struggling teen, "Or as your best friends would say… PKed!"

The teens heard that and panic struck them. Rian was gonna die if they don't do something, "RIAN, NO!" Taylor screamed and everyone watched in horror as they saw Rian's body disintegrating.

"G-guhh… I…ugh…ughh…" Rian gave up on cry of help, moaning as if dying. Talen suddenly remembered his vision, "_Don't let Thunder perish!" _He couldn't stand there frozen in place and watch his rival get PKed.

"NO!" Talen cried out, putting all of his force on the magic that bounded him until he finally broke it and took a mad dash. "Talen!" Sierra shouted.

"I won't let you get away with this!" Talen jumped into the beam and everyone screamed, "NOO!"

The beam struck Talen and Talen immediately transformed into his Keybearer. But the power impact caused a massive explosion of light that raided the entire gym. The light screen cleared up and Rian and Talen were gone… vanished without a trace. The magic that bounded the teens vanished also, setting them free. They looked around.

"They're gone…" Axel said.

"Rian! Talen!" Taylor called out to them, but they were nowhere in sight.

"Yo, Talen! Where'd you go?" Jean-Michel looked around, panicked, "Don't joke with me, boy!"

"They're gone." Phantamis responded, "And not the way I expected. They ruined the plan!"

"What?" Tidicus said, "Where are they?"

JM angrily stepped forward Phantamis, "What'd you do to my cuz?"

"Epepeh!" Phantamis stopped JM's paces with his hand, "I wouldn't get closer to me if I were you. Now why don't you be a good little celebrity rapper or whatever you do in the hood and back off."

"I ain't backing off anywhere bum." JM turned angry, "You mess up with my cousin I would mess you up." And with these words, he took one step back and transformed into his Keybearer. His transformation sends shock waves across the gym. Milene who was still hiding out and watching thought she was dreaming. Sierra looked like she was about to faint. Pierre caught her in his arms.

"Holy… Keyblade…" Denzel gasped.

"Jean-Michel Elincio is a Keybearer…" Trayne mumbled. Finally Sierra fainted to Pierre.

Phantamis was the only one not surprised, "Arctic." He called JM's Keybearer, "We meet again."

"Don't sweet-talk me you fool." Arctic sneered before he summoned his Keyblade and pointed up in the air. The Keyblade emitted an icy glow and then swung it, unleashing Arcwind. Phantamis vanished and the Arcwind froze a wall. Phantamis reappeared behind Arctic. Phantamis threw his hand toward him, but Arctic jumped out of the way and shot Arcwind again. Phantamis jumped out of the way again. The Arcwind attack struck and froze Tidicus this time. Phantamis and Arctic kept going at it, Arctic casting Arcwind and Phantamis dodging his attacks, freezing every place the attack struck.

Finally Arctic stopped, "Dang it!" he lifted his Keyblade up in the air telepathically, "Why don't you just stay—!" and with his arms thrust toward his opponent, and the Keyblade pointing the same direction, he yelled out, "—STILL?" and a massive Blizzara attack took over the gym, slowing down everyone.

Phantamis twisted his hand and all the Blizzara attack formed around, creating a large snowball to Arctic's and everyone's surprises.

"Maybe you should stay still." Phantamis said, smiling. He then snapped his finger and the snowball fell on Phantamis as snowfall, and he vanished on cue. Arctic ran to catch him but he was gone. The teens and Arctic stood still. Phantamis, Tidicus and Ivy were nowhere in sight.

Arctic returned to his Jean-Michel self and faced the teens, looking confused. The teens appeared stunned also by what has happened for the past few minutes.

"Jean-Michel. I'm…" Matt hesitated, "I'm sorry about your cousin. But rest assured we will find him. Him and Rian."

"Yo, man. I can't rest till somebody tells me what's going on here!" JM snapped, "Like, how come I'm seeing heartless? Why did I just saw the Blackheart Dominion kidnap my cuz? And speaking of my cuz, why did he, and myself, and you bunches, have this sudden power inside us?"

"Well…" Axel began, "It all starts with a little game called _Kingdom Hearts III Online HD._"

"I know what that game is." JM said, "I should remind you I'm rich in that MMO, not a fighter. Now, spill. And don't bail this time. Tell me what you know."

Unknown to the Keybearers, Milene was still there, hiding at the trophy room. She had seen everything. And she had captured all of what she saw on her camera phone. The picture she couldn't stop staring at was of Sierra transforming to Ciel.

"Keeping a secret Sierra?" she muttered, "Once I show this to the feds, we'll see who gets no future."

xXx

Midlight City University Hospital was where Kami's brother Tenshu was located. Still in the coma, he was still staring blankly into space. Kami had entered his room, and stared at him. She reminisced her conversation with Rian and the Keybearers about a week ago.

_"We need to head back to the Kingdom Hearts world if we can, and you can do this since you can manipulate their powers with your own dark one. Come on, Kami. I know you don't want to do this, hanging out with us. But together we're a team. What do you say?"_

_Everyone awaited Kami's response. It didn't take long for Kami to respond._

_"Violating the heart of the Purest of Light is just as worse as someone dishonoring my family and taking them away from me." She said, "I'll come with you. But on one quid pro quo, you help me seek out my brother's assassin, the PKer."_

She remembered everyone beaming at her response. It was a smart decision, she thought. She's been all by herself for so long, it felt like she was breaking out of the status quo for the sake of the world and her brother.

She sat by his bedside and held on his cold hand. She reminisced once more.

_Naraku (before she was called Death-Scythe) and Kage Ruin, Tenshu's alter-ego Keybearer, were surrounded by a massive group of Unversed at the Gathering._

_"Ready, Naraku?" Ruin asked her. She smiled, "I've been ready since I was born, brother!"_

_"Let's do this." He said and the siblings jumped into battle. Naraku hacked through the enemy line with her Keyblade, while Ruin delivered with his Keyblade a series of Black Magick spells. The stampede filled up more. Then Ruin changed mode to Black Mage mode, his outfit drastically changed to that of a black mage and his Keyblade morphed into a Grimoire. He delivered more dark magic combos with ten times more power, quickly erasing a third-quarter of the stampede. Then Naraku used her Focus Mode, Soul Reaper. Targeting her half of the Unversed stampede, she struck them up to the sky, forming them into one huge Unversed ball. She then leapt upward them, hacked two times and landed a final blow on them, slamming them up to the ground with a lot of damage._

_The enemies were no more._

_"We did it!" Ruin cheered, and Naraku high-fived with him, "All right!" she said, "Wow, you were really fast? Have you been working out?"_

_"Yeah, you know the usual: pumping up the old guns here." He showed up his muscle. Naraku pushed him teasingly, "Oh you." She said. The two laughed._

_"Wow! What time is it?" he wondered, "We had a great time, didn't we?"_

Kami almost smiled at the fond memory, still staring at her brother. "We _did_ have a great time, brother." She said in response. She turned to leave the hospital room. As she was leaving, a faint voice sounded from inside Tenshu, crying and shouting out for desperate help. But Kami was gone already, halfway from the bedroom.

Inside Tenshu's mind was another scenery, none other than the mass Keyblade graveyard field; the gathering. But this time it was dark, stormy, and frigid. Tenshu's Keyblade, the Grimoire, similarly designed like so, was among these mass dead Keyblades. And right underneath that ground where the Keyblade was stabbed, was a coffin. Inside that coffin… was Tenshu!

He kept on pounding on the top above him, unable to move it, unable to break it.

"HEEEEELP!" He cried out again, "Kami?! Can you hear me?!" he kept pounding with all his might, "Can anybody hear me?!! Somebody, please! HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLP!"

His voice echoed through the gathering, like the howling of a ghost, but still there was no one.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAALLLLP!"

xXx

Back in the Gummi Ship,

"Anything?" Donald asked Terra and Goofy who were still searching around the Gummi Net and the game. They shook their heads. Donald sighed.

"Maybe we should just give up." Goofy proposed, "I don't think we will be able to find anything."

"Wait!" Terra shouted, alerting Donald and Goofy. He felt a strong presence.

"What is it?" Donald asked, "Finally got something?"

"It's coming from the Realm of Darkness." Terra said, before he jumped back into the keyboard and started typing aggressively, "Help me locate it. It could be anywhere."

Donald and Goofy went on the search with Terra. They were closing in on the exact source Terra was sensing. They were ready to ID the source when the ship's door suddenly busted open and in came two men and a woman in formal suits and ties, sporting glasses. The woman had blonde and wavy hair, the first man who appeared to be the youngest had auburn hair and had the style similar than Roxas, and the second man had dark hair, tall, in shape, and looked a lot like Terra. Donald, Goofy and Terra were flabbergasted to see these unwelcoming visitors.

"What is this?" Terra approached them, and the Terra-like agent pulled out a stun gun and jolted Terra to his knee.

"Terra!" The alerted Donald and Goofy shouted for their friend. They summoned their weapons and Goofy charged toward them with his shield. The Roxas-look-alike agent leapt over Goofy and landed a kick on the back, sending him flying to a wall. Goofy fainted. Donald casted a Thundara spell from his staff, aiming at the girl. The girl blocked the spell with her arm and pushed it away, before pulling out a whip gun and shot a whip, wrapping around Donald and jolting him to his knees.

The three unknown cast approached the defeated trio. Terra was on the ground as he slowly and painfully looked up to stare at them.

"Who…" he grunted, "who… are you?"

The three unknown flipped their badges.

"US Secret Service." The woman said, "You're coming with us."

xXx

Rian was found in a complete void of darkness, unconscious, unresponsive… as if he had died.

"GAAASP!" He let out a sharp gasp as his eyes flew wide open. His eyes glanced around feeling out of place and he quickly sat up as if he woke up from a terrible nightmare. He looked around again, breathing heavily. He saw nothing but void. Complete darkness with the foul stench of rotting bodies, the feel of scorching heat at about 120 degrees and cries of tormented pains. He saw Keyblades everywhere, rotted Keyblades, like it was the hell version of the Keyblade Graveyard… He _was_ out of place.

"Oh god… where am I?" he muttered, quickly standing up, "Guys?" he cried out, but only got an echo.

_Guys… Guys… Guys…_

"Where are you? Is anyone here?"

_Anyone Here…Anyone Here… Anyone Here…_

"I need help, please! Somebody!"

_Somebody… somebody… somebody…_

"What is this place?" his eyes searched around for at least something or someone wandering this dark place, or at least a pinch of light, glimmering at a distance. Though he could hear presence all around him, it sounded like _they_ needed help more than he does. But he couldn't see through all that foggy darkness either and series of abandoned haunted Keyblades. "Am I dead?" he wondered.

"No need to know." A throaty voice answered behind him. Rian quickly looked back. He saw him and he felt a wave of absolute terror. It was Master Xehanort, emerging from the depth of darkness, surrounded in black smokes, eyes gleaming bright yellow, as if for vengeance.

**xXx**

* * *

**Hiya, guys! **This is King Mickey Mouse, giving you an update of what's gonna happen next time on _Online HD_! Gosh, tragic moments have happened in the middle of Homecoming: Rian and Talen are gone, the Blackhearts are on the move, and Donald, Goofy, and Terra have been captured by the US Secret Service.

…but who are these US Secret Service fellas?

And Tenshu is alive! But what will become of him if he's not rescued soon? And what's gonna happened to Rian and Talen?

Watch out, next chapter, as new Disney allies lend our heroes their strength, the return of a young king, the Blackhearts' ultimate plan gets revealed, and another big reveal get exposed in a two-part saga of good vs. justice.

* * *

Here's your answer to the **Kingdom Hearts Trivia**!

The idea of Kingdom Hearts took place _inside an elevator _where two respective executives from Disney and Square-Enix met inside for the first time. Hmm? Maybe _I_ should generate my ideas there. :D

* * *

**Author's Note**:

To all KH fans and readers, thank you for reading KH3 Online HD. Brand-new episodes of the fanfic will return starting in February. But in the meantime, check out its Christmas sidestory: KH3 Christmas HD, now available just in time for Christmas.

And if you like this fanfic, but you'd love to see Kingdom Hearts crossing over with Nintendo Super Smash Bros., then you'll love my next KH fanfic project featuring Smash Brothers called: **SSBxKH: Chasers' Brave Saga**, based on the sidestories at Deviantart. Coming 2010. Sneak peek now available.

* * *

******Next Chapter**:: _New Saga Begins - Keyblade Riders  
_


	15. Ep13: Keyblade Riders pt1

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

**Author's Note BEFORE YOU READ: **Everyone! This is the start of a new saga (if it was a TV show, it'll have been a new season, special event kinda thing). To be honest, this chapter wasn't intended to be written, but a lot has happened that I was forced to change the plot a bit. And boy, did it come out great!

As you may have noticed, the title has changed, but only for this special event. This long special episode "Keyblade Riders" will reveal the truth behind the game, will reveal secrets, will reveal betrayal, challenges, surprises you won't see coming, and will be running in three to four consecutive chapters depending on how the plot goes. Of course just to let you know that the chapter is still part of KHIII Online HD, so it's not a sidequest like KHIII Christmas HD. It's a real chapter.

I hope you'll enjoy this freshly-made new episode of KHIII Online HD. 'Cuz believe me, it's gonna pack a punch.

Here's the first part of the special episode.

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-Keyblade Riders****-**_

_Part 1  
_

* * *

Rian was found in a complete void of darkness, unconscious, unresponsive… as if he had died.

"GAAASP!" He let out a sharp gasp as his eyes flew wide open. His eyes glanced around feeling out of place and he quickly sat up as if he woke up from a terrible nightmare. He looked around again, breathing heavily. He saw nothing but void. Complete darkness with the foul stench of rotting bodies, the feel of scorching heat at about 120 degrees and cries of tormented pains. He saw Keyblades everywhere, rotted Keyblades, like it was the hell version of the Keyblade Graveyard… He _was_ out of place.

"Oh god… where am I?" he muttered, quickly standing up, "Guys?" he cried out, but only got an echo.

_Guys… Guys… Guys…_

"Where are you? Is anyone here?"

_Anyone Here…Anyone Here… Anyone Here…_

"I need help, please! Somebody!"

_Somebody… somebody… somebody…_

"What is this place?" his eyes searched around for at least something or someone wandering this dark place, or at least a pinch of light, glimmering at a distance. Though he could hear presence all around him, it sounded like _they_ needed help more than he does. But he couldn't see through all that foggy darkness either and series of abandoned haunted Keyblades. "Am I dead?" he wondered.

"No need to know." A throaty voice answered behind him. Rian quickly looked back. He saw him and he felt a wave of absolute terror. It was Master Xehanort, emerging from the depth of darkness, surrounded in black smokes, eyes gleaming bright yellow, as if for vengeance.

"You…" Rian felt transfixed by his bright yellow gaze. He tried to say his name but only let out quivering sounds.

"Master Xehanort." The old man said his name for him, "In the flesh." He chuckled, approaching Rian as Rian receded, "You must be very disappointed to see me again." The master grinned.

"What are you doing here? What have you done to me?" he shouted, obliged to ask all these questions.

"Simply put… nothing."

"You lying bastard."

"Ah, there you go again with the catchphrase." Xehanort smiled, "We used to be best of friends now remember? I used to call you Johnny Boy… you'll laugh at it all the time, but now… after all these years… I'm your own worst enemy. How could this happen I wonder?"

Rian couldn't recall these times Xehanort mentioned. But somehow, he knew he wasn't lying, and that freaked him out more. "I'm not afraid of you!" he said, furrowing his brow to prove it. But the old man read him like a book: he _was_ afraid.

The old man laughed "Yeah right. Just look at your heart."He reached his gloved fingers up toward Rian's heart, but Rian quickly moved back to avoid being touched, "It cannot withstand courage. If you have joined me into the darkness, it would have."

"No…" Rian shook his head.

"But it is too late for reconciliation now. Too late for made-up minds. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon… soon will you dread the day of my return! You and your Keybearers friends!"

"YOU LEAVE MY FRIENDS OUT OF THIS!" Rian threatened, summoning his Keyblade and dashed toward the menace before him.

YEEEAAAH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! The old man raised his arms up and a massive powerful white light suddenly overwhelmed him. Rian stopped running as he watched the light expanding to where he and Xehanort were in and in a mighty white flash everything exploded and the old man's screaming laugh went with it.

Rian screamed in reaction, his arms over his face, in an attempt to shield from the blast. But he felt nothing. He wasn't taken by the explosion nor did he get incinerated.

He looked up and saw that he was no longer in the darkness… he was in a different place. The place looked very similar to the Land of Departure, but it wasn't. The land was perched on the highest clouds rather than on the highest mountains. Like Olympus Coliseum.

"What the—!"

He suddenly saw something opening up right in front of him. It was a Keyblade Portal. The light poured out of that portal like a flood. He looked up in awe. He had seen Keyblade Portals before, but never one with that much power.

Rian watched as the light from the portal released two characters: a Keyblade Knight in a suit of armor of golden and mahogany blend color, and King Mickey.

"King… Mickey?" he breathed at the tiny King and the Keyblade Knight approached him. Mickey was in a dazzling burgundy wizard robe and sea-blue hat gleaming in sparkles. The Keyblade Knight looked different than Terra and the one knight Talen saw in his vision.

As the duo was closing in on Rian, they morphed back to their regular selves in a shed of light: Mickey to his regular red royal outfit, and the Keyblade Knight to his true identity. One shocking identity Rian never saw coming… Himself!

"You!" he gasped.

**xXx**

Back at Midlight City, the Gummi Ship's door suddenly busted open and in came two men and a woman wearing formal suits and ties and sunglasses. To Terra's surprise, the uninvited trio looked very familiar: the mid-length sized woman looked like Aqua but with blonde and wavy hair, the first man who appeared to be the youngest looked like Ven but with auburn hair, and the second man looked like Terra himself but with black hair. Donald and Goofy also appeared surprised.

"What is this?" Terra approached the trio, and the Terra-like agent pulled out a stun gun and jolted Terra enough to put him down to his knee.

"Terra!" Donald and Goofy screamed for their friend. They summoned their weapons, and Goofy charged toward them with his shield, while Donald sent out some Fantasia Comet spells. The Ven-lookalike agent leapt over Goofy and landed a kick on the back, sending him flying to a wall. Goofy fainted. The Terra-lookalike dodged most of Donald's attack. Donald then casted a Thundara spell from his staff. The Terra-lookalike dodged the spell, only to land toward the Aqua-lookalike. The girl agent blocked the spell with her arm and pushed it away, before pulling out a whip gun (similar to Zero-Suit Samus's) and shot a whip, wrapping around Donald and jolting him down to his knees.

The unknown trio approached the defeated trio. Terra was on the ground as he slowly and painfully looked up to stare at them.

"Who…" he grunted, "who… are you?"

The unknown trio flipped their badges and showed them to Terra right before he closed his eyes,

"US Secret Service." The Aqua-lookalike said, "You're coming with us."

Moments later, the remaining Keyblade teens—minus Rian, Talen, Kami, and Tenshu—busted inside the Gummi Ship, appearing somewhat edgy. Matt and Violet quickly spotted the control panel and went for it, typing something up.

"What a sweet ride!" Trayne gasped, marveled at the Gummi Ship's architecture.

"I know!" Denzel agreed, "I didn't know this place existed at all! No really!"

"I can't believe what you guys are saying is true." Jean-Michel said, "Everything that is happening in the game. It's for real?"

"For real." Matt replied. There was anger in his tone of voice, "The Blackheart Dominion. Their attempt to steal our hearts. Rian and Talen being erased. It's all real."

"Rian…" Sierra said his name in sadness, "What's gonna happen to him? What's gonna happen to Talen? Can we save them? Is it too late?"

"I hope not." Pierre said, trying to stay positive for his girlfriend.

"GUYS!" The teens heard Chip and Dale yelling. They turned their attention toward the panicked chipmunks engineers. "This is terrible! TERRIBLE! You gotta rescue them?"

"We know, but how?" Taylor asked them, already guessing what they were talking about, "They were erased."

"Erased?" Chip and Dale appeared surprised, "Who got erased?!"

"Rian and Talen." Axel disclosed, "Who else?"

"WHAT?!" the chipmunks screamed, "Rian and Talen?! How could this happen?!"

The teens appeared confused. "Wait! You didn't know?" Violet said.

"What were you talking about?" Pierre asked.

"Terra, Donald and Goofy!" the chipmunks disclosed, "They were captured by the US Secret Service!"

"WHAT?!" the teens screamed in panic. Hearing this news was WAY worse than Rian and Talen getting erased. Their secret somehow got exposed!

"Wait! Whoa! The US Secret Service?" Jean-Michel exclaimed, "How can they be involved in this?!"

"Simple." Violet angrily responded, "Someone in our group opened their big mouth about Kingdom Hearts being real. About our secret." Then on cue she turned to face Jean-Michel and so did everyone else.

JM's jaws dropped "Wait, whoa! Stop the limo here! You're blaming ME for this mess?! First of all, I DIDN'T KNOW about this whole Kingdom Hearts being real business, and second, my cousin got erased or killed, or whatever piece of junk you sayin', and that's bigger than me telling paparazzi! My family's safety ain't NOBODY'S business but MINE!"

"Guys, guys! Before we get all worked up," Axel said, trying to keep everything cool, and noticing JM's face was turning pure rage red, "we gotta figure out how we can fix all of this!"

Suddenly from out of the blue, Kami teleported in front of the teens using the Corridor of Darkness. "YIKES!" Denzel and Trayne freaked out by her sudden entrance.

"Sorry I couldn't help but overhear." Kami said to the gang, "You said Rian and Talen got erased? As in PKed?"

"Oh my gosh, it's the Creepy Freshman." Trayne said.

"I know." Denzel agreed, "She's creepier up close."

He turned, only to see her all up in his face. He jumped, "Aye!"

"Yes, it's true." Violet replied, "It was all Phantamis's doing. He was about to PKed Rian when Talen jumped in trying to save him but alas. Now we're trying to find them in the Gummi Net Locator."

"But hearing about Terra and the others being gone too is conflicting with what we should do." Axel pointed out.

"What?" Kami snapped, "You guys care more about your secret being exposed to the public than your friends?" Before the gang could even think, she went on, "Your priority should be to find Rian and Talen's assassin and bring him justice! Terra, Donald, and Goofy are gonna be fine. They can handle a couple of US agents if they can handle Heartless, Nobodies, and Unverses!" She then interrupted them when they were about to speak again, "You know what, let me handle this. I got resources. Your assassin is my assassin."

She turned to leave when the entire Gummi Ship flashed white and the gang fell on their knees, unable to move. The Gummi Ship started shaking.

"H-Heyy! Wh-what gives?" Pierre grunted, struggling to stand up but couldn't.

"W-we're s-stuck!" Sierra yelled out.

Out of the blue, the Gummi Ship's door poured in an army of SWAT Team. Guns loaded and shield ready for protection, they completely surrounded the gang. The gang raised their hands in surrender.

_Enemies of the Earth!_ The female voice of the Aqua-lookalike sounded over PA system of the Gummi Ship. _This is Agent Eagle of the US Secret Service! By order of the United States of America, you have the right to remain silent!_ _Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law._

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Axel snarled. Taylor elbowed Axel to keep him quiet.

_You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning._

"I don't wanna go to jail…" Sierra silently whined.

_If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense._

On cue, the Aqua-lookalike came into the Gummi Ship to face the teens. The teens' jaws dropped.

"Do you understand these rights?" she said.

"Aqua…" Matt whispered.

**xXx**

Rian couldn't stop staring at his twin. But his twin looked different. His outfit was different: a black graffiti t-shirt that says "hot eagle" near the left shoulder side; baggy jeans, and black shoes, a silver ring, and a necklace of the same symbol similar to Rian's. His hair was different with a dark blond color and his Widow's Peak was the shape of a thunderbolt. He appeared to have a sense of coolness and cockiness.

"Oh my god…" Rian muttered to himself, "…I'm dreaming…" he was still unable to remove his gaze from his twin standing in front of him.

"Uh… Rian?" King Mickey tried to speak.

"No, no, no, no. You." he pointed at his twin menacingly, "You can't be real… I mean, seriously, you look like… you look like…" he hesitated, "…y-y-y-you look like…!"

"Uh… you?" the other Rian responded.

"No! You look like me!" Rian freaked out, "You can't look like me. Why do you have to look like me? Why do you even _look_ like me? There can't be two of me! There can only be one of me! What kind of a psycho are you to look like me?" he paused uncomfortable, "Oh, my god! I'm talking to myself!"

The other Rian leaned toward the King and whispered with a troubled smirk on his face, "Seriously, King? That's my twin from Earth?" his gaze was on Rian.

King Mickey shook his head, "Thunder, please, not now." He called him.

"What? No. That's Rian for you! You fake!" Rian protested, "YOU'RE NO TWIN OF MINE!"

"Rian?" the other Rian said, "No, no, no, no, no." he shook his head, smiling cockily, "I'm Thunder."

"The _real _Thunder." Mickey clarified, before scolding him, "Keyblade Rider of Lightning. And he is _nothing_ like you."

"Thank you." Thunder said snobbishly, before whispering again to Mickey, "And I'd prefer Master over Rider. Rider is like… ehh…"

Rian looked at Mickey then looked back at his twin. He just saw his twin talking to him. He _was _seeing his twin talking to him.

"All right, what the heck going on here?" he barked.

He then looked up to the sky and shouted out to the darkness, "Is this another sick trick of yours, Xehanort? Cuz I'm not laughing!" he chuckled nervously, "I really am not!"

"Dude!" Thunder laughed, "Hate to break it to ya man, but I think you _are_ laughing." He placed his hand on Rian's shoulder. Rian startled, jumped out of the way and summoned his Keyblade. Thunder quickly backed away, arms in the air. Mickey also startled.

"Whoa, hey! Take it easy!" Thunder said.

"Rian," Mickey said. "May I suggest you put your Keyblade away, so we can talk about this?"

"Only after I wake up from this _freaky_ dream!" Rian said.

"It's not a dream, Rian." Mickey pointed out, "You're Thunder's Earth twin!"

Thunder then looked over Mickey questionably, "Wait, I thought it was my Earthy twin. Is there a difference?"

Rian fixed his narrowed eyes on Thunder as if giving him a thorough scan, "You sound… just like me." He said, "Only cockier than Thunder."

"That's because _I'm_ Thunder." he replied, "Sheesh, can anyone _gets_ me?"

"He's the Keyblade Rider of Lightning from the Land of Heroes. The place we are now." Mickey introduced him again, "And I'm lending him a hand on our secret mission against the Blackheart Dominion."

"Dude! Can we like talk about this, and not try to hurt each other?" Thunder said to Rian, still staring at the Keyblade Rian pointed at him, "I'd really appreciate it."

Rian hesitated for a second before looking back at King Mickey who smiled at him, reassuring him that it was okay to put down the weapon. Rian finally made his Keyblade vanish. "All right, but to tell you the truth, I'm still woozy about this whole thing with you and me, and this twin business."

"What if we tell you that this whole thing started with Sora?"

That caught Rian's attention, "Sora?" he said, "What does he have to do with this whole thing?"

"Not long ago, I wrote Sora a letter." Mickey began, "Sora was chosen, to free those lost in their torments, those connected to his heart… those related to the Keyblade. The journey Sora traveled to was one of the toughest journeys he has ever faced since he took on the Keyblade. But with friends by his side, and a brave heart still beating, he was successful."

Rian nodded, listening attentively.

"But then, something grave took place following his journey. His actions have brought back enemies of the Keyblade: an army summoned by the darkness of the lost hearts of the Keyblade War. They were also connected to the Keyblade and onto him. But they were purely evil. They were called Chasers."

"Chasers?" Rian said.

"Chasers of Darkness." Thunder said, "Agents of the Darkness, able to control the forbidden magic lying beyond the Keyblade. They are also called Blackhearts, for their nature."

"The Blackheart Dominion…" Rian breathed the frightening words, already getting the picture.

"Somehow they were brought back from the grave," Mickey said, "An entire army of them. Sora blamed himself for this sudden twist of events. But with his friends by his side, he was reassured that this battle was going to end before it was getting started."

"But that's where you guys were wrong?" Rian reminded Mickey, and Mickey solemnly nodded.

"The Chasers had a leader. That leader was none other than the returning Master Xehanort. Xehanort had returned stronger, darker, ready to set his failed plan in motion once again, and we had to do something."

"What did you do?" Rian asked.

"We had to formulate an army: an army of Keyblade warriors, to pit against those of the darkness. The brave Sora made the ultimate sacrifice: he used all of the strength, all of the bravery, and all of the light from within his heart to summon an army of Keyblade heroes with the purest of bravery in their hearts."

"Hearts of Pure Bravery… that's when…" Rian then glanced over at Thunder. Thunder nodded as if in response to his unfinished question.

"That's when they came in, as if by miracle: we called them Keyblade Riders: Tandem, Aegis, Arctic, Kage, Naraku, Sharx, Cross, Flora, Soledad, Stone, Ciel, Blazen, and their fearless leader Thunder. They were Thirteen of them, which wasn't enough. But these Thirteen had the same powerful magic as did the Chasers, and together they were able to defeat them and send Master Xehanort back where he belonged." Mickey explained.

"Sweet taste of victory that was." Thunder said.

"But… what about Sora?" Rian asked, "Was he all right?"

"Oh yeah." Thunder replied, "We pulled our powers together to summon him back to life."

Rian let out a sigh of relief. But then he looked troubled again, "But then…" he paused uncomfortably, "…they came back, didn't they? The Blackhearts? For revenge this time?"

Mickey and Thunder stood silent. But all three knew the answer to that. Thunder grumbled, "Curse it! If we knew what we were up to? That we got a betrayer in the rank?"

"A betrayer?" Rian blinked, "Among the Keyblade Riders?"

"Ah, yes." Mickey said, "Rian. I must inform you right now, that Thunder's betrayer, will be the same betrayer you will encounter. By that I meant his Earthy twin."

"What are you talking about?" Rian asked.

"If I were you Rian," Thunder advised, "I would make him my enemy on the spot before he strikes. I'm sorry man, but that's my thought on what's gotta be done."

"Which betrayer?" Rian asked again, "Tell me!"

"The one who bought back the Blackheart Dominion, and erased everyone in the process, including Sora." Mickey said before he took another breath of silence and spoke, "Keyblade Rider of Wind Fire: Cross."

That name startled Rian, "Matt?!"

**xXx**

* * *

**xXx**

"I know you don't want to believe this, but if Cross was capable of doing this, then surely his twin of Earth might betray the team too." Mickey said to a flabbergasted Rian.

Rian shook his head, "No, no, no. I understand Cross doing that, but not Matt! Matt believes in his friends. He wouldn't dare join the Blackheart Dominion!"

"But he did." Thunder said.

"No, that's a lie!" Rian shouted, "No way man! I mean… I…" he sighed, not knowing what else to say.

"I still do not know why he did what he did." Mickey explained, "But once he joined the Dominion, the Dominion set out on destroying everyone, including Cross himself. The day came when Sora was gonna be crowned ruler of the Realm of Light. It was going to be an eventful ceremony, drawing crowds from near and far, when the Dominion came in uninvited, and by surprise, wiped out everyone from that room, including the Thirteen Keyblade Riders, Terra, Ven, Aqua, Kairi, Riku, and even Sora."

"We were gone man." Thunder said.

"But what happened after that?" Rian asked, "How did you come back?"

"It was Terra." Mickey disclosed, "He was the only survivor there."

"Terra?" Rian repeated.

"While he was still clinging to his wounds, he spied on the Dominion." Mickey explained, "They were planning to steal the Hearts of Pure Bravery and use its power to do what they had to do when Master Xehanort had first summoned them: to capture Kingdom Hearts."

"But they couldn't do that because they have erased us. So they had to look for an alternative." Thunder explained.

"That's where they heard about Planet Earth. A place full of diverse places, full of wonders and full of people…" Mickey didn't finish and Rian finished for him, "…who are perfect replica of those from the Realm of Light. Hence, the Earthy twins." He gasped, getting the full picture now.

Mickey and Thunder nodded.

"Terra came to me at Disney Castle and told me what happened at Sora's ceremony. So I had to leave." Mickey said, "I had to tell Terra to tell Donald and Goofy of their friend's loss when the time was right, because I couldn't bear telling them myself. So I left without leaving a note. I took off to find a way to bring everyone back from their erasure state. I managed to bring back Thunder. And once I did, we met you in the process. And here we are now."

"Wow." Rian only let out a faint whisper, "So, the game _Kingdom Hearts III Online HD. _It was made to train us into perfect versions of the Keyblade Riders the Dominion have accidentally erased, so that when the time comes, our heart will be just like the original Keybearers and perfect for stealing? So the game _Kingdom Hearts III Online HD _was a way to trap us into our doom?!"

"But it made you stronger now, right?" Thunder asked him, "All the battles, all the sidequests…?"

Rian couldn't deny his answer, "Oh, yeah. Of course! Totally! It's just that… I never actually realized that the game that I thought I was enjoying was actually a world I was enticed to by evil in their attempt to steal my heart and kill me! I mean, I kinda knew that ever since Terra told me, but…"

"But now you can use this game as a mean to save your world and the Realm of Light. And all beings threatened by darkness!" Mickey reminded Rian, "You and all your friends involved in can beat the Dominion at their own game! Without Xehanort by their side now, the battle shouldn't be as hard as the last, but the battle promises to be just as long."

Rian nodded, "Mmh- hmm." He appeared nervous. Like he wasn't ready for the big battle at all.

"And you can start by crossing Cross." Thunder advised.

"What?" Rian shook his head, "Uh-huh. No way, man."

"What do you mean, no way?" Thunder asked, and Rian quickly added, "I understand where you're coming from, but Matt is a cool friend of mine! He'll never cross us like that. Trust me… and I ain't gonna let anyone get him! Not Xehanort, not the Blackheart Dominion, and definitely not the Keyblade Riders."

**xXx**

Right in the middle of all the busy skyscrapers of Midlight City, there was this glass-made skyscraper, very high-tech and professional, that unfortunately no onlookers care about, paid attention to, or ever wondered what was inside that building. But that was all about to change in an instant, as a heavily-guarded black vehicle pulled out in front of the building and the SWAT Team army started pouring out of it, escorting the heroes into the building. The onlookers looked on, now curious and full of questions.

"Excuse me! Where are you taking us?!" Denzel asked, "You're not gonna put us in jail are you? Or in one of these locked-in ward places like some psycho kids, right? Cuz we really aren't those things!"

"Is this going to be televised?" JM nervously said, noticing the public eye on him.

"This is National Security." Agent Eagle replied, "We do not wish to alert the media at this moment. Even if it means getting more publicity from you, Mr. Elincio!"

"Why would I get more publicity when my cousin is missing?" JM complained.

Agent Eagle and her troops continued dragging the teens down the lobby when an officer called out, "Agent Eagle! We're missing a number!"

She stopped her paces, "What?" she glanced over him through eye corner.

The officer was ready to reply when he felt a slit on his throat and fell. Death-Scythe was behind him!

"What the—!" The appalled Eagle screamed in alert, "Enforcers! Get her! Bind her hands or kill her!"

The SWAT Team army all rushed out at Death-Scythe. Death-Scythe pulled out her Scythe Keyblade and wiped the team out with horizontal, diagonal sweep moves, and vertical slams attack. Once she finished she swung her blade upward to release a flashing arc. The arc zoomed right past the teens, freeing their binding hands.

"GO!" Death-Scythe yelled out and the teens spread apart.

"I SAID GET THEM!" Agent Eagle yelled out and more SWAT Team swarmed the massive lobby like it was a fire drill. They aimed their guns at the teens. Death-Scythe vanished before the SWAT team started firing. The lobby turned into a furious rain of bullets for the teens. They barely dodged every one of them.

"DUCK!!"

"WHOA! HEY! NO!"

"WHAT'CH'ALL DOING MAN!"

"STOP!!"

They were all screaming collectively, as they were looking for ways to hide. Sierra, Pierre, Taylor, Matt would protect themselves with their Reflect shield from all the bullets as they were running, but the bullets kept hammering on their shield to the point where they would shatter. Axel tried on his Super Armor, but it was depleting fast, Denzel would use his Reserve ability whenever he got struck by the bullets and Trayne would heal himself. But the time for their ability to recharge was slimmer by the second. The teens knew that this fight was an inevitable losing battle.

Axel quickly hid behind a pillar at a shaded area, transformed his Keyblade into his Dessert Eagle gun and he started firing at the SWAT Team, striking any soldier he could find, sending them flying. Matt stepped in the middle of the lobby and raised his hand up, casting Gust at a couple of soldiers, sending them flying helplessly as well before he followed it up with blast of fires, eradicating them. JM joined in and fired Blizzara attacks, freezing any SWAT soldier he could target. Denzel shot Firescatter at the enemy while Violet and Pierre joined Matt's Gust attacks with Aero attacks and Zero Gravira respectively. Sierra and Taylor sent their own attacks with Water and Fire, and Trayne tossed out a couple of Blizzard and Impact moves.

"IT'S NO USE!!" Sierra yelled out, noticing the number was increasing, "THERE'S TOO MANY OF THEM!!"

"I got it!" Pierre said before running to the middle of the warzone-like lobby and raised his Keyblade up shouting, "Zero!", casting out Zero Gravira.

A good number of SWAT officers got suspended into the air, unable to attack. Pierre turned to face his friends only to get greeted by Agent Eagle's Karate chop attack. Pierre fell out cold.

"Pierre!" Sierra yelled.

Eagle faced the teens and aimed her palm at them. A white flash took over the lobby and the teens froze in place, immobile. She then flew her hand down and the teens obeyed, falling on the ground, out cold.

"Drop your weapons!" Eagle called out to the SWAT officers who weren't affected by the Zero Gravira and they immediately obeyed. Eagle faced the teens again, with bitterness on her face, "You'll rue the day you've crossed the United States." She muttered.

**xXx**

Moments later, Axel woke up, realizing something's wrong. He didn't wake up on a soft bed, hearing the chirping of the early birds on a bright weekend morning. He woke up, tied up on a chair against his will… again!

But this time, he was on an executive chair, by a large rounded rectangular executive table where the rest of the Keybearers were, also in the same situation as he was. They were also waking up at the same moment.

"Uh… guys?" Axel wondered, looking around the fancy Board of Directors' bureau of ivory walls and with two US Flags gracing over a large widescreen window overlooking the entire Midlight City, "Why are we in an office? Bounded against our wills?"

"Maybe we're getting a promotion?" Denzel wondered.

"Or maybe we're getting fired." Pierre said, "But not before a good-old fashioned corporate torture."

"This isn't a joke you guys!" Taylor exclaimed, "It's the US Secret Service's doing! They did that to us!"

"I know!" Pierre burst out, almost in tears, "Can't you take a joke or pretend? I'm freaking out here!"

A loud boom from across the hall made the teens jump. The teens turned to face the door, where they heard the noise.

"What was that?" asked Trayne amongst the silence.

The Corridor of Darkness opened up behind the distracted teens and out, came a Blackheart.

"The beginning of your end." The Blackheart spoke, catching the teens' attentions. The teens couldn't believe who they saw standing there.

"Sora?!" Taylor gasped.

"No." Matt said quietly, "…Aros."

The Blackheart indeed _did _look like Sora, except his eyes were yellow and his hair were as black as the darkest of blacks.

"Seems we meet again…" Aros smiled, his eyes were on Matt. He then said in a ticked-off tone, "…friend."

All eyes turned to Matt as Aros started chuckling. Matt stared back at Aros; with anger in his eyes, and the expression that something big was going to be revealed.

**xXx**

Back at the Land of Heroes,

"I understand your trust in your friends. I too do feel the same way." Thunder said, "But—!"

"If you're going to continue arguing about this, Thunder," Rian warned, "May I remind you that it's gonna take a long time before we get into some sort of compromise."

Thunder smiled again, shaking his head, "Nah, I'm not into that subject anymore. I actually want to show you something."

Thunder approached Rian. Rian watched as his twin raised his hand into the air, wondering what kind of trick he was going to do. Suddenly, Thunder thrust his palm onto Rian's chest and a spectacular light show took over the teen. Rian screamed in pain as the light took over the Land of Heroes in a mighty blur.

The blur cleared up and Rian found himself on the ground, holding painfully onto his chest and letting out short breaths. Mickey who was nearby came running to see what was going on.

"There. It's done." Thunder declared.

Rian opened his shirt to see the Heart Symbol on his chest. He stared at it, shocked, then glared back at Thunder, "What did you DO to me?"

"I connected your heart to the D-Link Network." Thunder replied.

"What?!"

"D-Link Network." Mickey said, "Dimension-Link. It's a special kind of power anyone can use, when someone within that network can summon in their friends for help, from near and far."

Thunder helped Rian up to his feet, "You are exclusively in our D-Link Network, buddy." He said, "Should you need our help wherever you are, you can call on either me of King Mickey, from special charms inside your heart."

Rian blinked, looking freaked out, "Charms?" he stuttered. He couldn't possibly fathom the idea of having _charms_ in his heart. "Okay, first of all, I have a _charm _inside my heart? My _actual_ heart? And second—!" He then cringed, still feeling the burn on his chest. "…why didn't you warn me that it was going to hurt?"

" 'Cuz you wouldn't let me do it. Duh!" Thunder replied.

Rian hesitated, "Well… yeah… cuz I don't really like chest pains, y'know? Last time I had them, I thought I was gonna get erased."

Mickey then faced Thunder, looking puzzled, "I don't get it, Thunder. We planned that we'd travel with Rian to find the other Keyblade Riders. Why connecting him to the D-Link Network when he's not going anywhere?"

Thunder smiled again, "True that, King. _He_ ain't going anywhere."

He turned around, pounded on his chest and a light show took over him again, and to Mickey and Rian's surprises, Thunder was back in his Keyblade Knight Form. Thunder summoned his Keyblade, opened a Keyhole Portal in the air, tossed his Keyblade into the air and it morphed into a Jet Motorbike, similar to Rian's Style Mode. He hopped on the Jet Motorbike and faced the puzzling duo.

"_I _am."

"WHAT?" Mickey and Rian exclaimed.

"Where?!" Rian asked.

Thunder was halfway toward the sky as he shouted, "To prevent your mistake!" at Rian.

"What mist—?" Rian cut himself off, suddenly getting the message. And he didn't like that, "Ohh, no! Oh, hell no! Thunder, don't! THUNDER!"

"Thunder!" Mickey shouted also. Both Rian and Mickey tried to catch up to Thunder but the Keyblade Rider was already gone into the sky.

"Your Majesty! We can't let him get away with this!" Rian told Mickey, "We need all 13 Keybearers together! If everyone finds out about Matt's secret—!"

"…it'll be over. I know." Mickey said with a defeated sigh, "But we can't."

"Your Majesty!"

"Rian, I understand your concern." Mickey said, "But we have to keep going. We gotta make sure that our secret mission stays intact. That the Blackhearts doesn't know the Keyblade Riders are alive. And to do that, we have to keep Thunder's existence a secret."

"But he's already gone." Rian said. Mickey continued to stare back at Rian, waiting for him to understand the plan. He suddenly lit up, "Wait a minute, that means Thunder is gonna be like me, and I'll be like Thunder?" he asked, and Mickey nodded, smiling, "I guess that's the plan."

Rian shook his head, "Oh boy… I don't know how we gonna pull this one off."

* * *

**

* * *

Yo, buddies! **Thunder here, giving you an update of whatch'all gonna see next time on _KHIIIOnline HD_ – _Keyblade Riders _special.

Mickey and I rescued my Earthy twin Rian, but yeah, like you saw it firsthand, I decided to go into his world, posing as him to clean up his mess. I can't have another betrayer ruin the Keyblade Riders again. But hey, don't worry 'bout me. I'll be fine. What you should be worried about is the Blackhearts finding out the secret switch and the fact that I'm still alive. But hey, I live for danger!

…and I'm gonna have to deal with Blackheart Aros too. Gosh, I feel like I've seen him before… he's definitely not Sora, that's for sure. But what's with these Black-hearted jerks and their business with the US Secret Service? And where is Terra, Donald, and Goofy?

Check it out, but till next time!

* * *

******Next Chapter**:: _Keyblade Riders (pt.2)-  
_


	16. Ep14: Keyblade Riders pt2

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-Keyblade Riders****-**_

_Part 2  
_

* * *

-**Midlight City High School-**

_"This is your National News-anchor reporting live first with breaking news of a massive shoot-out inside this glass-made Tower here behind me, involving the United States Secret Service and you won't believe this… nine young teenagers and all-star celebrity Jean-Michel Elincio."_

Trishelle Banks, who was drinking from a carton of chocolate milk, spewed it all out on Skyler Vitani "EW GROSS!" he exclaimed.

The mortal teens were all at Halee Salazar's art class, watching this breaking-news that had the entire city—heck, the entire country—watching. All the students were appalled in response.

"JEAN MICHEL ELINCIO?!" Trish screamed, being the first in the class to express her shock, "What is Jean-Michel Elincio got to do with—!"

She got cut off when the students saw the other teens involved in the shootout. The students roared in shock. They _knew_ those people!

"Taylor?!" Skyler exclaimed.

"MATT?!" Halee screamed.

Suddenly the door busted open and in came Principal Law, "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, MS. SALAZAR?!" his scowling eyes fixated on the art teacher, "WAS THIS _YOUR_ IDEA OF ART AGAIN? HOOLIGANISTY?!"

"Principal Law!!" Halee panicked, "I would NEVER—!"

"YOU'RE FIRED!!" he cut her off, before storming out, shouting, "and if those kids ever get out of juvie, or worse, bring them back here for an all-year detention ALL AFTERNOON!"

Law slammed the door and Halee felt tears in her eyes, "I'm… f-fired…?"

Milene watched the news footage and suddenly felt guilt churning in her stomach. She sneaked out of her purse the pictures that she took of the teens in their Keybearer forms fighting the monster, the Dominion, and everything that had happened at the Homecoming Dance; and her face sank even more. Just when she thought she had punished Sierra for insulting her image by exposing her secret to the entire country, did she got Ms. Salazar fired and the entire school—and America—on edge.

The door swung open again. Halee quickly stood up, shouting, "PRINCIPAL LAW! Please! Give me another—!"

It wasn't Principal Law. It was a young girl with hazel shoulder length hair and amethyst eyes, wearing a white short sleeved shirt under a black sweater and a black knee-length skirt.

"No I'm not the principal. My name is Selena. I'm a friend of Denzel. He goes to school here. He was in the shoot-out." The girl said.

"Denzel." Halee remembered him back in detention, "Yes, I know him…" Halee looked worried.

"Please, tell me he's okay!" Selena's voice shook, "Please tell me he's gonna be all right! I can't bear living a second of my life without him!"

Halee didn't know how to respond to that; but the news anchor on the TV screen did.

_"We still don't know the nature behind this sudden attack inside that building, but it appears that the US Government was behind this. However a lot of calamities have been reported from the shootout. No identifications have been reported yet. But we will give you more updates soon from the US Government and from the crime site."_

Selena lost hope from that latest report and broke down crying. Now Milene felt guiltier. She glanced back at her pictures.

_-Flashback begin_

_Milene approached the three agents. The three agents appeared very serious._

_"This better be good, kid." Agent Hawk said to Milene, "Just bear in mind that any false leadings is a federal offense."_

_"There's nothing federal offensive about these pictures." Milene smiled as she pulled out the pictures she took and revealed them to the agents. "Heck, I would say instead that these pictures are worthy enough to be exposed to the media." _

_The agents looked at each other. The look on their faces appeared still serious, but Milene knew exactly what they were thinking about._

_-Flashback end_

"What have I done?" her whispered voice shook at the memory she should have prevented in the first place. She took off from the classroom, looking fully determined.

"Milene! Where're you going?!" Skyler shouted at her, catching the classroom's attention, but Milene was gone.

* * *

**-Midlight Skyscraper, Seclusion Room-**

Donald finally woke up after being unconscious for what felt like a long time and he noticed that he was inside a prison cell guarded by four SWAT Team officers on duty.

"Uh…what?" Donald looked around, "HEY! What's the big idea? Get us outta here, now!"

The SWAT officers briefly turned to stare at Donald through their thick sunglasses, and looked away minding their own business, as if Donald didn't exist.

"HEY! DON'T Y'ALL KNOW WHO I AM?! AUGH!" Donald turned to face still-unconscious Goofy, pulled out his staff and slammed on Goofy's head countless times, "WAKE UP, GOOFY! WAKE UP!"

"oW~ Donald…" Goofy whined.

"This is no time for sleeping!" Donald said, showing him where they were, "This is an emergency!"

Goofy looked around, "Oh… that can't be good."

"Ya think?"

"HEY, QUIET UP THERE!" shouted a SWAT officer at the Disney toons. But Donald chose not to listen and kept talking, "We were having a perfect search for King Mickey and this is what happens!"

"Gawrsh, you think someone just spilled our secret?" Goofy asked.

"HEY! Didn't I tell you to be quiet?!" the SWAT officer shouted again, but the two friends kept talking.

"I wouldn't be surprised if someone did." Donald mumbled, arms crossed, "Terra told us about a betrayer with the Keyblade Riders. So no doubt there is one in Rian's group too!"

"HEY! Don't make me repeat myself again!" the SWAT officer literally grabbed on the bars and started barking at the Disney toons, "When I tell you to be quiet! I mean be—!"

Donald pointed and a stream of fire twice the size of a forest fire shot from his finger, scorching the SWAT Officer to crisp. Alerted, the remaining officers pulled out their weapons, ready to shoot, when suddenly they heard feet landing behind them, and before they knew it, a Keyblade struck them in an arc swipe, knocking them out cold. Donald and Goofy saw who it was.

"TERRA!" Donald shouted with joy.

"You're back!" Goofy exclaimed.

Terra swung his Keyblade down on the prison cell, setting Donald and Goofy free.

"I've received disturbing news from Chip and Dale." Terra reported, "The Keybearers are in trouble. The Secret Service is holding them hostage in this building. We have to free them."

"Terra." Donald said, "Care to venture a guess about a betrayer in Rian's team? Got a feeling our secret got exposed."

"It got exposed all right." Terra said as he, Donald, and Goofy were getting out of the chamber through a long dully white-painted corridor, "The entire country is on edge of another possible attack on terror coming from interdimensional forces, hence: us. They suspect the teens to be helping us to succeed in the plan on terror, failing to understand the truth behind this whole ordeal."

"_Kingdom Hearts III Online HD_." Donald said, "A game made as a trick done by the Blackheart Dominion."

"Hard to avoid _that_ truth." Terra said, "The media's getting stories everywhere, the city's demanding answers from its major, senate, even the President. Other nations may soon get involved in less than t-hours counting. But that's not the most of our problems."

"What is?" Donald asked.

"These secret agents who captured us." Terra began, "They're physical representations of ourselves, dwelling on this Earth the same way as do our Modern-Day Keybearers."

"Earthy twins?" Goofy asked with a shaky voice.

"Exactly." Terra replied, "Unlike our Keyblade-wielding friends, they don't know the truth about what is going on. They only know what they were told from media and literature that reveal only false visions of interdimensional forces or aliens coming to divide and conquer their world."

Donald and Goofy gave Terra a questionable look.

"They don't know the truth either." Terra clarified, "But we have to tell them either way! And we have to inform them about their twins from the Realm of Light also: Ven, Aqua, and myself."

"I hope that's wise." Goofy thought.

"And about the Keybearers," Terra went on, "I don't know about the teens having a betrayer in the rank. But I do know one thing."

Terra stopped to face Donald and Goofy. Donald and Goofy stopped too, edgily.

"What? What is it?" Goofy asked, edgily.

"It's Rian and Talen…" Terra hesitated, "They've been erased."

There was this complete uneasy silence between Terra, Donald, and Goofy. "…what?" Donald whispered.

Terra had his eyes on the floor, "Chip and Dale didn't tell me the entire story, but they told us that the teens were at school when it happened. Talen perished, trying to prevent his rival from being erased, but to no avail."

"…w-why…" Goofy's voice shook, "Why does this have to happen?"

"I'll tell you why this is happening?"

Donald and Goofy heard Terra, but it wasn't really Terra who spoke. Terra was too surprised by his identical voice. It was Agent Hawk who spoke, Terra's Earthy Twin. Hawk removed his sunglasses to reveal his beaming brown eyes.

"This is happening because you've made the decision to invade our peaceful country." He then pointed at the trio menacingly, "And as an official of the United States, I won't let our country get taken over by aliens like you."

Terra slowly approached Hawk, "Look. We don't want any trouble. But if that's what you're looking for," Terra summoned his Keyblade and ready to fight, "then bring it."

Hawk pulled out his gun and aimed at Terra, "Oh, I'll bring it."

Hawk fired as many shots as he fired and Terra countered them all by swinging his Keyblade wildly. Hawk then charged his gun and fired a big blast ball. Terra cast Reflect on himself, and the blast ball bounced off Terra and flew into the ceiling, shattering it. Hawk watched in awe, distracted from Terra's counter attack: Reflect Slam. Terra leapt high and stabbed his Keyblade to the ground, releasing heavy arc of energy at Hawk, striking him backwards. Hawk quickly recovered.

Terra unleashed a flash of light in him, changing to his Style Mode: Fire Blazer. He charged toward Hawk with his Keyblade and took a swing but Hawk blocked the attack. He kept on swinging, delivering combos, and releasing flaming arcs and orbs at the same time, but Hawk managed to block each hit, despite receiving low burning damages. Terra and Hawk went sideways.

"Impressive…" Hawk breathed, exhausted from all that blocking.

"I should say the same to you too!" Terra said before pointing his Keyblade at Hawk, "Burn!" Terra shot a powerful Firaga attack that blinded the entire hall. The light cleared up and Hawk was still intact. He had blocked that attack too.

"What…?" Terra gasped.

"GRAAAWL!" Hawk dashed toward Terra and landed an uppercut on Terra, sending him flying. He jumped into the air to join Terra, unleashed a flurry of martial-arts punches and kicks at him, and delivered a hammer fist for the finish, sending Terra to the ground. Hawk landed and pulled out a piece of used gum from his arsenal belt. He tossed it on Terra and the gum send out waves of electricity, electrocuting Terra. Terra screamed in pain.

"Terra!" Donald and Goofy ran to aid him. Hawk pulled out a marble and threw it on the ground, and invisible barriers enveloped him and Terra blocking Donald and Goofy access. The two Toons slammed their heads on the barrier and got dizzy for a second.

Hawk faced Terra, pushed the button on his Headset and the electricity inflicted more pain on Terra. "YYGGGAA!!" Terra screamed.

"Any enemies of our country are enemies of mine!" Hawk shouted.

"We… are not… ENEMIES!" Terra screamed at that last word and a dark aura emitted around Terra. Terra suddenly—and surprisingly easily—pushed away the electricity that was binding him, much to Hawk, Donald, and Goofy's surprises.

"What?" Hawk gasped.

"Oh, no…" Donald and Goofy shuddered.

Terra dark aura stayed on the warrior for a second. Terra charged the energy into his palms and aimed his palms at Hawk, and before Hawk knew it, he was surprisingly struck by the dark blast and blown to a wall.

Terra then powered-up his aura of darkness, and changed to his Style Mode—Dark Impulse. Terra's eyes glowed golden and the dark aura that had enveloped it was embracing him like a dark shadow. Terra looked evil right there.

"Impossible…" Hawk gasped.

Terra charged toward Hawk again, striking him with fury. He finished with a diagonal swing that sent Hawk flying to a wall. Hawk watched Terra descending with his dark-enveloped blade above his head with a battle cry. Hawk pulled out another device from his arsenal belt: a small coin. He threw the coin and the coin released an invisible shield. Terra swung his blade on the shield and both the blade and shield got locked in a struggle, releasing sparks and fireworks everywhere, overwhelming the hall.

The light faded away and Terra found himself on the ground with his Keyblade on the ground, at the mercy of Hawk's gunpoint, to Donald and Goofy's surprises.

"It's over!" Hawk said.

Terra without hesitation thrust his palm at Hawk and a dark blast sent Hawk backwards. Terra grabbed his Keyblade. Hawk quickly recovered and started shooting at Terra. Terra who kept dashing, knocked out all the bullets flying at him with ease.

"Not over yet!" Terra shouted as he jumped and stabbed his Keyblade to the ground and rays of energy pulled out from the force, striking Hawk again toward a wall. But Hawk recovered his fall and clutched on the wall like a stealth spider. He bounced off the wall, charging toward Terra. As he was charging, he pulled out another device: a green clickable pen. He pushed its tip down and a green power overwhelmed his punch, then Hawk suddenly surrounded himself in green energy, Psycho-Crusher style. Terra raised his Keyblade in a defensive stance, trying to block the attack, but Hawk kept hammering on him like he was breaking through his defense. Hawk finally broke through Terra's defense and kept hammering on him at high-speed until the last blow, sending Terra flying to a distance.

Terra recovered midair and unleashed his Focus Mode: Ultima Cannon, transforming his Keyblade into a massive cannon and fired at Hawk. The stunned Hawk merely dodged the blast, pulled out his gun again and tried to target Terra but was gone.

"KYAAA!" Terra's cry was heard from right below Hawk. Hawk saw a large pool of darkness like he was right below a hole to Hell. Hawk rolled out of the way but the dark hole gave chase. Terra came out of the hole, completely covered in darkness.

"GRRAAAAWL!!" He yelled out, as the darkness around Terra constricted Hawk like a cobra, and unleashed dark blows on him till he delivered the final blow that sent Hawk's body slamming violently through the ceiling.

"T-too power… ful…"

**xXx**

**-Land of Heroes-**

"King Mickey." Rian spoke to the tiny king, "Talen gave his life to save me from getting erased. With Thunder jumping into the throat of danger like this, I can't bear having someone die for me again!"

"Relax, Rian." Mickey reassured him, "Life at high risk has always been Thunder's motto. I remember when I received reports that he went into Fort Tenebris alone to uncover the Keychain of Despair."

"Fort Tenebris…" Rian said, reminiscing playing this sidequest in the game. Boy was that stage horribly hard, he thought.

"I know that fort," he said, "Once a tortured prison for all Keyblade wielders during the Keyblade War and now abandoned for three thousand years, it's a fort still enchanted by Keyblade Magic, powerful enough to lock all Keyblade powers, and now because of its terrible histories is now a forbidden access to all Keyblade heroes."

"Wow, Rian!" Mickey sounded impressed, "You've learned quite a lot! I'm impressed!"

"Well, I've learned from the game." Rian said, "Phew! And I thought the Labyrinth of Time from _Final Fantasy PSP_ was tough."

Mickey gave Rian a puzzled look.

_"_That's not important_._" Rian said to him, "But… if he's able to clear this up, which I can imagine wasn't easy, what about the other challenges?"

Suddenly an image came to Rian and Mickey from out of thin air. The image showed the teens held hostage at the skyscraper building, facing Aros.

"Like this challenge!" Rian pointed at the picture, "Aw man! They're in trouble! In trouble with the law!"

Mickey saw Aros and appeared surprised, "Is that Aros?"

"Blackheart member Aros, the Mysterious. Possesses the power of the Twilight." Rian introduced him before facing Mickey, "What about him?"

"I've seen him."

"Of course you've seen him. Everybody's seen him." Rian said, "It's not like a family reunion, King Mickey. I mean, I wouldn't say a family reunion since he's practically an enemy of the light—!"

"No." Mickey interrupted, "I didn't mean that I've seen him." He paused uncomfortably, "I've _seen _him. I've battled him before. Aros is more than just an enemy."

Rian looked puzzled, and worried at the same time.

"He's not Aros!" Mickey declared.

**-Midlight City Skyscraper-**

"Seems we meet again…" Aros smiled, his eyes were on Matt. He then said in a ticked-off tone, "…friend."

All eyes turned to Matt as Aros started chuckling. Matt stared back at Aros; with anger in his eyes, and the expression that something big was going to be revealed.

"Friend? Why is he calling you friend?" Violet asked Matt.

"Because he's stoned." Matt quietly answered.

"Oh, I get it!" Pierre gasped, already guessing the answer, "that guy looks like Sora! And we're _all _friends of Sora! So it's so obvious that he calls us friends!"

"He's an _enemy_ of the light, Pierre!" Axel, who usually appeared cheerful, said to him in a serious tone, "He's no friend of ours."

"OH!" Aros shouted, pulling the teens' attentions back on him, "So you never _told _them, huh?" Aros asked Matt in a provoked tone.

"I tell them everything." Matt quietly replied.

"Buuut—!" Aros said again, provoking Matt into saying what he should say.

"Okay! What is this Sora wannabe talking about?" Trayne asked impatiently.

"Oh, I'll tell you what I'm talking about." Aros said.

"He has nothing to tell!" Matt shouted over the talking Aros, who didn't mind the interruption. But then Agent Eagle came into the room, rudely interrupting him.

Eagle turned to face her unwelcomed visitor, "Impostor…" she pulled out her gun and pointed at Aros, "Who are you?"

"OH! Well, if it isn't my dear Eagle, bird of freedom." Aros chuckled.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

"How do I know your name? Well you shoulda asked how do I know your President?" Aros disclosed.

Agent Eagle slowly lowered her weapon, "Mr. President?"

"In the flesh." He said, "He gently—_and_ quietly—handed over the Secret Service and the _entire_ city of Midlight to an organization of justice known as the Blackheart Dominion. And I just so happen to be their proudest member. So now you're looking at your very own Commander-in-Chief."

"Preposterous." Eagle said, "I need to speak with Mr. President for confirmation at once!" She turned around to leave, but then saw Aros right in front of her, like he had teleported. She gasped.

"I would advise against that if I were you." Aros spoke in a low tone that made Eagle uncomfortable. She immediately knew something was terribly wrong and this guy was no ally. She threw the first punch but Aros blocked it with his palm. He twisted her wrist, and then grabbed her by the neck in a chokehold and she was sent flying to a wall.

"I told you I would advise against that if I were you… but nooo, you wouldn't listen." Aros said, approaching the wounded Eagle, and waved his hands toward the exit. The exit got blocked by his Blackheart barrier. "By the way… is it just me, or do I get the feeling that… we've met before?"

Eagle slowly sat up, "…you've been stalking me?" she grunted in pain.

Aros shook his head, "Oh no, not stalking." He said as his hands got enveloped in purplish aura. He raised a palm in the air and Eagle flew up at will, and he then threw his arm over to a corner where Eagle slammed her head hard on it and was left unconscious.

"Call it a reunion." He said.

The alerted Keybearers tried to break free from the cords binding them on their chairs to help Eagle out. They were almost freed when Aros turned and raised his palm at the loose ropes, transforming them into dark magicked bracelets. The bracelets shocked the Keybearers moments before they were free. Now they were _really _trapped.

"Now, that I have dealt with the annoyance we like to call powerless," Aros said quietly, "time to deal with you."

"Damn it! We were _this_ close!" Pierre shouted.

"What have you done to Rian and Talen?" asked Axel.

"And Donald, Goofy and Terra?" Taylor asked also.

Aros sighed frustratingly, "I dunno! Okay?! Ask the person responsible for making them vanish! We were talking about Cross here and his living lies!" On cue he glared back at Cross.

"What are _you _talking about?" Taylor exclaimed, "Why are you dissing on my boyfriend? We want to know what you have done to our friends?!"

"YEEAH!!" collective agreement came from the teens.

"Really? Don't you want to know the horrible crimes Cross has done while he was working for the Dominion?"

Aros' revelation felt like he had sent shockwaves in the group. All eyes turned on the guilty Matt. Matt had his eyes on his floor, "That's a lie…" he whispered, despite knowing that it wasn't a lie.

"Admit it, Cross!" Aros shouted, "You, and I, and Sage, and many more of our Dominion friends were loyal to you. You were willing—and you did practically everything—for the Dominion! And I mean everything."

Matt noticed his friends' looks on their faces like they were seeing a ghost. They just couldn't believe this… well, all except Violet, who looked like she was expecting this.

"I knew it…" she muttered, shaking her head.

But that didn't stop Aros from revealing more, "Boy was it the simpler time, when your heart was brave enough to take on darkness at its fullest, you would use your talents to create us these special heart-ripping heartless… you know, the ones with the glowing arms…"

The teens were stunned at that too.

"…the amount of hearts we've captured, the number of people we've tortured, the number of worlds we claimed…"

"SHUT UP, AROS!" Matt shouted, "Just shut your frigging trap!! I'm warning you, one more word out of you or else—!"

"Or else what? You're going to break away from your dark chains and attack me?" Aros chuckled, "Please. These chains are tightly bound by dark magic. No handcuffs, or cords can beat its resistance. Heck, let's make this interesting…"

A snap of his fingers brought in a floating dark cloud carrying a large device with red digits reading:

1:59… 1:58… 1:57…

The teens' eyes went wide. They already knew what they were in for.

"…with Thunder and Blazen out of the picture, I believe it is now time for the Dominion to claim your precious Hearts, no?" Aros said, "This Dark bomb I have just materialized, will release a void of darkness in a mass of colossal explosive damage, enough to instant-kill a cockroach. Y'know cockroaches don't die fast, right? And it is from at that moment, that you will face your erasure!! And we shall claim what is rightfully ours!!"

At these phrases he started laughing: first quietly, then like he was half-crazy, and finally like a maniac with a high-pitched tone.

The teens helplessly watched the Dark Bomb implanting itself to the ceiling as it kept ticking…

1:33… 1:32… 1:31…

"Oh my god, we're all gonna die…" Sierra's voice quivered.

The teens struggled to break free to no avail, and Aros kept laughing hysterically.

"WE CAN'T DIE HERE!"

"HEEELP!"

"GRRRRAAAAAH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

"HEEEELP!!"

"SOMEBODY HELP US!!"

"GRRRRAAAAAH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

"YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS, MAN!"

"GET US OUTTA HERE MAN!!"

"WE CAN'T—!"

"GRRRRAAAAAH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

"HEEEEHEEEELP!!!!"

1:08… 1:07… 1:06…

* * *

**Hey guys! This is** **Rian Rivers! **Giving you an update on what's gonna happen next time on _KHIII Online HD - Keyblade Riders_

Aros has gone too far! Imprisoning my friends in that building with a Dark Bomb ticking? This is bad… this is really bad! Where is Thunder!? I know he was on his way to help them, but he's gotta reach that Skyscraper in time to save everyone! Come on, man! Hurry!

* * *

**On the Next upcoming Chapters of KH3 Online HD  
**_(scenes subject to change in the episodes)_

"We've identified another presence in Midlight City, sir Noah." Said an executive of the PKK Secret Service to Noah Tsubasa

"Whoa…" Noah breathed in awe

xXx

Thunder was on his Keyblade Motorbike, riding as fast as he can through the city's highways to reach his destination.

xXx

"There's something different about you, alien clone." Hawk called Terra, "Something…" he paused uncomfortably, "…evil…"

xXx

0:02…

0:01…

0:00

* * *

******Next Chapter**:: _Keyblade Riders (pt.3)-  
_


	17. Ep15: Keyblade Riders pt3

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-Keyblade Riders****-**_

_Part 3  
_

* * *

**-Midlight City Police Bureau-**

Short and messy brown-haired Noah Tsubasa was staring speechlessly at his boss, the Chief of Police, at Midlight City Police Bureau. An hour and a half it has been since news of the Keybearers reached the city.

"You want me to carry on the investigation?" Noah said to his boss.

"It's obvious, right?" the chief said, "With these hooligans' teenagers attending the same school as your daughter and son, I feel compel that you should see to it."

"But sir… my daughter and son aren't in that school anymore, since the incident…" Noah said, "…and to be honest, don't you think that's wise? I—!"

"Now what is the problem?" the chief of police asked.

"It's just that…" Noah hesitated, "I don't want this thing to be a problem with Kami." He said, "She's suffered enough in her life, with the divorce and her brother's condition…"

"She'll be fine." The chief of police said, "It's you I'm worried about, making up excuses. You should forget about all of that, and do this investigation. It'll get your mind off things."

xXx

Moments later after meeting with the boss, Noah took the elevator up to the rooftop of the Bureau's building. From there he crossed the roof to reach a door. He opened the door, went down the stairs to an empty sub-basement.

"You're late."

Noah saw who it was in that sub-basement. It was Lightning, the female citizen from Cocoon and a senior at Midlight City High. Her arms were crossed, her eyes were closed, and she was leaning against the cold basement wall.

"Chief had me lectured about my life priorities." Noah said, "What's up with school?"

"You tell me!" Noah heard a cheerful voice. He saw that it was Tidus and Zidane from Midlight City High also.

"The school's going nuts!" Zidane announced, "They're thinking that Rian and the guys are up to something, helping out some criminal faces to put terror in Midlight City and the nation. Can you believe that?"

"I don't." Noah sternly said before facing the bland wall and placed his palm on it. The wall emitted a bright glow: _Access Granted! _A computerized voice said through the wall and the wall split apart, shifting open to reveal before them a secret International spy base with a hundreds of people at their computers, cramming in all kinds of computer programming, and at the center of all was a large screen shown in full HD glory, displaying many other screens. Each screen was recording almost all the settings in Midlight City, including the teens at the Skyscraper, and Terra, Donald and Goofy also.

"I don't believe Kami would join terrorists." Noah went on, "She's too smart to go down that lunatic spiral." He then faced the _Final Fantasy_ Characters, "I have a feeling this has to do with the game's criminal players the PKers. Call me crazy, but it is true. I've been seeing things. First with my son and now this?"

"Is that why you joined the PKK Secret Service?" Tidus asked Noah.

"We preferred calling it the Security." Lightning corrected Tidus before heading toward the large HD screen.

"They are criminals out there, using the game to get teenagers to do such unspeakable things." Noah hypothesized, "Some will even kill innocent players. Technology is evolving everyday and I won't allow that power to get abused in any way." Noah said, clenching his fists, "And if I do find the criminal who put my son in this coma, I swear I'll make him pay so much, he'll end up using his life as payment to the next one!"

"Uh… yeah. Back to reality here." Lightning said to Noah, "I happen to have something… interesting to share to you."

Lightning handed over Noah a large envelope, "What's this?" Noah asked.

"Why don't you open it and find out."

Noah opened the envelope and saw pictures of the teens in their Keybearers' forms fighting monsters and the Dominion at the Homecoming Ball. They're the same pictures Milene took and gave to the US Secret Service.

"I caught Milene running out of the classroom when I stopped her." Lightning said, "She said she was the real reason behind all this fiasco, saying that she wanted to expose Sierra and only Sierra. Humiliating her for insulting her 'image'."

Tidus and Zidane scoffed and rolled their eyes, "That Milene is always up to no good."

Noah examined the pictures, "Impressive…" he gasped, "so this is… all real?"

"Orchestra, come take a look at this!" an executive of the Secret Service called out to Noah by his codename.

"Found anything, Rhapsody?" Noah rushed toward the exec, calling him out by his codename also.

"We've identified another presence in Midlight City." Rhapsody said, "And you won't believe it."

**-Midlight City Highways-**

A Keyblade Portal flashed in the middle of the city's busiest highways, and a large truck that was right near it swerved just to avoid it, only to get all other cars in panic state and colliding. The portal shot out Thunder, on his Keyblade Motorbike, riding as fast as he can to reach his destination.

But Thunder was riding on the wrong lane, the wrong way, and he was going faster than the speed limit, swerving lanes and dodging honking vehicles that were coming toward him.

Thunder entered the right way finally, but he kept on riding over the speed limit. Before he knew it, police cars were chasing him.

"Stop that motorbike! Now!" they started yelling, pulled out their guns and started firing at Thunder. Thunder swerved and dodged bullets.

**-The Security, PKK Secret Service-**

The Security team was watching the scene back at the base.

"Whoa…" Noah breathed in awe.

"No way! That's Rian!" Tidus called him, unaware of who he _really_ was.

"So this is the famous Rian Rivers? The bad boy of the school?" Noah said, shaking his head in disbelief on what he was seeing, "Why am I not surprised? That he's in a high-speed chase with the police shooting at him."

"Grim Reaper sighting, Orchestra!!" another programming executive called out to Noah as a warning signal. And Noah knew what that means.

"Dangit. Kami's here already?" He said as he hurriedly slipped on a Bluetooth communication headset over his left ear and pressed a button. There was a low rumbling and the podium at the center of the large HD screen shifted away to reveal a set of stairs that led to a lower room.

"Head back to your office, Noah. We'll deal with her." Lightning said to Noah and Noah rushed to his secret location. The podium began shifting back to closing.

"You know, man! You might wanna tell her your secret sooner or later!" Tidus yelled to Noah, "Don't hide stuffs from her you know?"

Kami made her appearance "Stuff from what?" she spoke quietly, spooking Tidus, "AaAH!" he screamed, "Sheesh! Don't DO that!"

"We were trying to hide this from you." Lightning pointed the screen for Kami to see Thunder on the high speed chase. "…but since you're here and we can't hide it from you anymore."

"That's…" Kami gasped, "I thought he got…?"

"PKed?" Zidane finished, "Yeah, no. Apparently he's out for vengeance."

**-Midlight City Highways-**

Thunder kept looking back at the pursuing police cars who kept on shooting at him, and then looked forward the road. He kept sweeping and swerved all bullets, dodging them with ease.

"Sigh… I don't have time to play with you, guys." He muttered before revving up his motorbike, going up full-speed, and took off into the air. A portal opened up through the clouds and vanished into it at speed of light, literally stopping traffic and stunning the pursuing police officers. All drivers got out of their vehicles with their jaws hanging to watch the large portal closing.

"We have IDed the suspect! I repeat… we have IDed the suspect! He's working for those aliens!" shouted an officer to his radio after seeing Thunder disappear, "Get the FBI and put an APB on him! NOW!"

**-Midlight City Skyscraper-**

Both Terra and Hawk appeared exhausted and battered up following their intense battle. Terra's Earthy Twin US agent managed to stand on his feet and wipe the blood that was showing from his cut lips.

"There's something different about you, alien clone." Hawk called Terra, "Something weird… something…" he paused uncomfortably, "…evil in your heart. What _are _you exactly?"

"Whatever you just called me is what I am…" Terra was out of breath, but his fighting spirit was still raging. He raised his Keyblade and said, "…but keep going down that road and you'll be no more than a puppet of darkness." He dashed toward Hawk with a battle cry, ready to attack Hawk again. Hawk readied for the attack.

But Terra suddenly stopped. He looked around as if something had caught his attention. His Keyblade vanish to Hawk's surprise, and Donald and Goofy's.

"Something's coming." Terra informed.

The battle barrier finally vanished and Donald and Goofy ran to Terra, "Terra, what's wrong?" Goofy asked.

"What are you staring at, alien?" Hawk shouted, trying to get Terra's attention. But Terra was too distracted to listen. The look on his face could tell that a big surprise was coming this way.

"I don't believe this." Terra whispered, "He's… here?"

"Hey, what's going on?" said Agent Bird, Ventus' Earthy Twin, coming to the scene. But everyone was silent.

Terra sensed the power… it was closing in… it was near… too near… he looked out the window and shouted, "LOOK OUT!"

Terra turned away from the window and so did everyone. Terra raised his Keyblade, casting Vanishga on everyone and right on cue, Thunder crashed through the window on his Keyblade Motorbike, making a smashing entrance. He zoomed right past the gang at the speed of light, ripping off all walls structures and vanished again.

Terra's Vanishga spell faded.

"Was that…?" Donald gasped.

"…Rian?" Goofy gasped.

Donald fainted. That near-death experience has completely overpowered his mental state.

"Thunder." Terra clarified, "Come on!"

He dashed in pursuit. Goofy followed. Then the stunned Hawk and Bird followed behind after taking the time to relive their near-death experiences also. But then after a few seconds, they come back to pick up the unconscious Donald.

xXx

1:08… 1:07… 1:06…

"You're all gonna die! Darkness will swallow you whole! And there's NOTHING you can do about it!" Blackheart Aros replied maniacally at his hostages.

The nine heroes—Sierra, Pierre, Taylor, Violet, Matt, Axel, Jean-Michel, Denzel, and Trayne—watched helplessly the Dark bomb ticking, with no way to break free from the dark magic bounding them to their chairs at their Fancy Executive Boardroom-like prison.

Aros stopped laughing. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

"Something's coming…" he muttered, sensing a presence coming from a distance, "I can sense it."

Aros watched the wall, as if anticipating some surprise coming from that wall. Then right on cue, the wall exploded, blasting Aros to another wall, causing a big crack, severely wounding him and overwhelming the entire board office with debris, smokes and revving sounds that sounded very much like a motorbike.

The smoke was clearing up as the Motorbike morphed back to Keyblade form to everyone's surprise, and the Keyblade suddenly vanished. Johnny Thunder has made his heroic entrance!

He stood there on the Executive table, appearing all heroic. The teens' stared at him in awe, like they were dreaming.

"Rian!" Sierra called him, having no idea who he really was.

"You… you're alive!" Axel exclaimed before facing the readers, "He's alive!"

"Dude, stop that. Creepy." Thunder said to Axel, shaking his head.

He then jumped off the table, turned his attention to Matt with a serious look on his face, pointing, "And you and I have some unfinished business." He said to him, but Matt appeared confused.

"YOU!" Aros's scream surprised Thunder. "What are you doing here? ALIIIVE?!! GRAWWL!!" Aros dashed toward Thunder, screaming bloody-murder with his Dark Keyblade at his grasp and took a swing across. Thunder ducked the attack and quickly jabbed Aros in the gut, then followed with an uppercut, and finished with a spin hook kick in the face, sending Aros flying to the wall again, causing a much bigger crack.

Thunder jumped onto the executive table and summoned his Keyblade. The teens quickly noticed the Keyblade. It looked like Rian's but it wasn't. It wasn't Rian's Keyblade! Thunder quickly noticed his mistake and vanish it, right on cue for Aros to recover from his fall.

"GRAAAWL!" Aros growled, took a leap toward Thunder, summoning dual Keyblades. He delivered his weapons on Thunder who blocked them with just his left arm. Thunder pushed away the Keyblades and grabbed Aros by the neck. He slammed him on the Executive table, literally shattering it to pieces.

Thunder then back-flipped and took a stance as a blue aura enveloped his hands, charging his Blast move. Aros quickly stood up and Thunder unleashed his fully-charged Blast attack at him in a mighty blow, but Aros just stood there, immobile, like the blast had breezed right through him!

"What?" Thunder was stunned.

"Cuckoo." Aros had teleported behind Thunder, startling him. Thunder quickly turned around to get surprised by two consecutive headbutts and low knee attacks on the stomach. Aros then twirled Thunder in place and threw a strong back fist, sending him to the cracked wall, completely demolishing it.

0:35… 0:34… 0:33…

Thunder slowly recovered and saw Aros dashing toward him, screaming bloodily again, "GRAAAAAAAAAAWWWWL!!!"

Thunder was only halfway on his feet when Aros tackled him, pushing Thunder through piles of walls until they vanished from the teens' eyes.

"Since when do Rian knows Martial Arts?!" Taylor asked.

0:25… 0:24… 0:23…

"COME ON!" Axel shouted, before breaking off the dark magic binding him, freeing him once again.

"Since when do you know how to do _that_?!" Taylor then asked Axel.

"Do we have TIME for questions?" Axel screamed, before pointing at the Dark Bomb ticking on the ceiling,

0:16… 0:15…

"WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!"

"BUT HOW?" Violet shouted as the teens struggled on their chairs, trying to break free off the dark magic binding them, but nothing.

Axel summoned his Keyblade and raised it up, shattering the dark magicked bracelets like a spell, freeing the teens.

"Phew. Thanks!" Trayne said with a smile.

"NOW BEAT IT!" Axel exclaimed. The teens ran through the series of cracked walls that Aros caused when fighting Thunder.

Axel stopped Matt from proceeding, "Not you. You ain't coming with us."

"What?" Matt shouted, "You're willing to let me get killed by—?"

"Find another way out!" Axel shouted before taking off with the others. But Matt felt trapped. The exit door was blocked by the Blackheart's barrier and Agent Eagle was still out cold… one way out before the explosion was through the widescreen sky window.

0:02…

0:01…

0:00

**-Midlight City-**

The skyscraper took an explosion of darkness, catching city's onlookers' attention. They watched Aros and Thunder crashing out of the building on cue; Aros on top of his adversary. Aros summoned his Keyblades and readied to stab Thunder, but Thunder knocked him off him. Aros landed on his feet, breaking his fall. Thunder quickly got up.

Aros then powered-up an aura of darkness twice as large as Terra's, and changed to his Style Mode—Dark Impulse.

"What…" Thunder gasped.

He then dashed toward Thunder again, delivering a flurry of Keyblade blows and flashes of darkness. Thunder kept blocking each one of them, but to Thunder's surprise, Aros summoned thousand more dark Keyblades from out of the blue and swung at them telepathically at Thunder, delivering more flashes of darkness. Thunder with slim chance to counterattack, kept blocking Aros' Dual Keyblade swings and fending off the flying ones. The battle felt like a high-octane DBZ-match, and Thunder was losing.

The teens have reached outside the building, joining the city onlookers to watch the battle unfold. They have survived the darkness explosion; but Matt was not with them.

"He's not even fighting with his Keyblade!" Pierre pointed out.

"And he's losing!" Sierra said, before crying out to Thunder, "Rian! Use your Keyblade!"

"But he can't do that!" Axel shouted in reply, pointing out to the crowd, "They are people here! And worse, what if the Blackheart locks his Keyblade Powers with Keyblade Magic and he can't use them?!"

Aros who kept on attacking Thunder, shouted to Axel, "Thanks for the tip!" and with a thrust of his palm, grabbed Thunder tightly by the chest. A flash of light shot out in multiple beam forms from Thunder's heart. Thunder cried out loud in pain, losing his defense. Aros released the defenseless Thunder and seized his chance to deliver four consecutive slashes on Thunder and a final upward swipe that sent Thunder flying distance to the street ground in a massive crash. Thunder, severely wounded, tried to get up.

"Rian! No!" the teens screamed for their friend. Aros was right in front of Thunder, Keyblade gripped firmly in hand like a cold-blooded killer with a chainsaw ready to kill his cornered victim.

Aros held him at Keyblade point, "Phantamis didn't finish the job. I'll FINISH it for him!" Aros furiously said before raising his Keyblade up to stab the helpless Keyblade Rider. But then out of the blue, Kami's Kurasigama wrapped around Aros's Keyblade and pulled it off his grasp.

"HEY!" Aros yelled out before a small burst of air sent Aros flying, away from Thunder. Aros quickly recovered midair and saw who attacked him. All eyes turned on Kami and Matt. Kami's Kurasigama morphed back to her Keyblade and Matt made his Keyblade vanish. Matt was carrying with him the unconscious Eagle.

"We won't let you get away with this, Aros." Matt threatened. "Leave the Keybearer alone."

At that same moment, police cars, the FBI, more Secret Service agents, and even paparazzi and news crew came to invade the scene, surrounding the heroes and the villain.

"Paparazzi." Denzel noticed the crew before facing Jean-Michel, "Looks like they came for you." Jean-Michel shook his head.

"SAYS WHO?!" Aros barked at Matt, "The guy who betrayed his friends?"

"If I had truly betrayed my friends, would I be here right now?" Matt asked.

"Way to go, _friends, _for leaving Matt behind while you escaped." Kami coldly said to the teens, locking eye especially on Axel.

"Girl, can't you see he betrayed us all?" Axel said, trying to reason.

"I did not betray you!" Matt exclaimed, "That was a long time ago! And I never thought the Blackhearts were evil before I knew their intention! Seriously, if I were evil, would I be fighting for justice with you guys?"

"So you are claiming to fight for justice?" a reporter said and all the reporters and paparazzi started clamoring, demanding more questions.

"BEEE-GONNNE!!" Aros unleashed more darkness from his Dark Impulse and slammed a fist on the ground, releasing a shield of darkness that blew away everyone down, knocking them out cold. Aros faced the knocked down Keybearers and approached them.

"Doesn't matter which side you thought you were on, Cross." Aros said, facing Matt, "All I know, is that the Dominion has no more uses of you." He then faced the rest of the Keybearers, "You may all have escaped the Dark Bomb, but…"

Aros powered up his Dark Impulse some more. He then transformed his Keyblade into a massive cannon. Dark energy started to build into the cannon, as he leapt into the sky and aimed directly at the block where everyone was.

"…let's see if you can ALL escape the Dark Mass Destruction!" he roared. The cannon build more and more energy and the heroes watched helplessly with nowhere to run.

Aros fired his cannon. A dark massive energy ball was heading straight for the ground.

"REFLECT BLITZ!" Terra shouted as he came in front of everyone, Keyblade on hand. He raised it up to summon a massive shield, sending the Dark ball right back to Aros. A powerful explosion took out Aros, rendering the air.

Donald, Goofy, and Agents Hawk and Bird came to the scene at the same time to watch the explosion unfolding. Everyone in the square looked on as well. Aros who got hit by the impact, crashed to the ground, no longer in his Dark Impulse Mode.

"Are you all okay?" Terra asked the Keybearers.

"Terra, you saved us." Taylor said to the Keyblade Knight.

"Yeah, when we were supposed to save you, guys." Axel remarked.

"We are heroes." Donald said haughtily.

"And we bought help with us too." Goofy said, pointing to the sky. Everyone looked up, even Aros who was recovering. They saw a group of black helicopters surrounding the area, with the symbol PKK on their sides. Inside one of those copters were Lightning, Zidane, Tidus, and Noah, watching from the sky. They saw everyone, but everyone didn't see them.

"What madness is this?!" Aros shouted, "More of those repugnant mortals?!"

"_Blackheart Aros of the Twilight!" _Noah shouted through the PA system,_ "You are hereby under arrest by order of The Security for your criminal actions against the city, its people, and those involved in Kingdom Hearts III Online HD game!_ _Including the Player Murder of Tenshu Tsubasa!!! There is no way to run!"_

Everyone looked on in shock. They couldn't believe all of this stuff they were hearing. The heroes looked on as well.

"Father…" Kami whispered, almost surprised to hear Noah's voice in the PA system. All the teens turned to her attention when she said that.

"Father?" Axel said.

"Your dad works for the Security?" Denzel asked.

Kami didn't respond. She looked on to the sky, fists clenched and in an angry state.

* * *

**Yo, guys! It's** **Axel! **Guess what's gonna happen next time on _KHIII Online HD - Keyblade Riders_

Aros has been surrounded, and he's done for now! But what's the deal with Kami and the Security? Does her father actually work for them? Bah, who cares? Just turn on the heat when she's angry, cuz that's hot!

And Lightning, Tidus, and Zidane will join us for this ultimate battle! This is it, man! No way to escape for the Blackheart, cuz he's going down!

* * *

**On the Next upcoming Chapters of KH3 Online HD  
**_(scenes subject to change in the episodes)_

"We're gonna have fun with these dimwits." Aros smiled before shooting from his hands multiple dark balls at surrounding helicopters. The helicopters retaliated by shooting out multiple missiles.

xXx

"Anyone has a problem with my plan now?" Alistare asked his comrades, who all obediently shook their heads, "Good."

* * *

******Next Chapter**:: _Keyblade Riders (pt.4)-  
_


	18. Ep16: Keyblade Riders pt4

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

* * *

**

* * *

::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-Keyblade Riders****-**_

_Part 4_

_

* * *

_

"_Blackheart Aros of the Twilight! You are hereby under arrest by order of The Security for your criminal actions against the city, its people, and those involved in Kingdom Hearts III Online HD!_ _Including the Player Murder of Tenshu Tsubasa!!! There is no way to run!"_

Noah shouted through the PA system of a helicopter that was gliding above Aros, the heroes, and almost the entire city watching. The city fell in shock once they heard Noah's statement about KHIII the game and started talking. More helicopters showed up, surrounding the area along with police forces and news crew.

"Father…" Kami whispered, recognizing Noah's voice. All the teens turned to her attention once she said that.

"Father?" Axel said.

"Your dad works for the Security?" Denzel asked.

Kami faced the gang, "Would I call him father if he didn't?"

"Oh, so we got more of them huh? Fine." Aros took up position, cracked his knuckles and smiled, "We're gonna have fun with these dimwits." Aros raised his dark aura around him again before shooting out from his hands multiple dark balls at surrounding helicopters. The helicopters retaliated by shooting out multiple missiles.

"He shot at us!" one of the pilots panicked upon getting hit, "May-Day! May-Day!"

The dark balls got the advantages and started destroying the helicopters to pieces. Everyone watched in shock. The passengers inside the copters managed to escape their destroyed air fleet by parachute. Some didn't use parachutes. They were Lightning, Zidane, and Tidus. They landed on the ground, surprising Aros from behind. Aros turned around to get greeted by Lightning's spin hook kick, knocking him down.

"You three!" The teens were stunned to see the three _Final Fantasy_ characters together.

"Hiya!" Tidus greeted the teens with a smile.

"What are you all doing here?" Taylor asked.

"Reinforcements." Donald responded, "Before we escaped the tower, Agent Eagle made contact with the Security to help us out. They work for the Government too, y'know?"

"Looks like you guys aren't the only ones with secrets." Zidane winked.

"Wait a minute…" Axel said, looking surprised; and so was everyone else, "the Secret Service called reinforcements to _help_ us?"

Aros slowly woke up from being knocked out hard by Lightning's strong kick, "Ow… you little punks! You're gonna pay dearly for this…"

"Freeze, criminal! And stay where you are!"

Aros heard the police force behind him, pointing their weapons at him. It wasn't just the police force who restrained Aros, but the US Secret Service SWAT Team was there also, along with the rest of the Security PKK Secret Service. All of them had Aros surrounded; finally realizing who the real bad guy was. Trish, Skyler, Milene, Halee, and Selena all came to the scene as well to watch.

"We have you surrounded, criminal!" says one of the police officers.

Aros chuckled, "So, it's me against the whole world now huh?" he looked around at the surrounding city once more, "this is pathetic. There's more mortals than there is even strong warriors. I'll let you all go for now." He then faced the policemen, "But let me warn you, don't think that you'll be seeing the last of me, worms. Because soon, your city will get what's coming to it. You hear me? Get it!"

Suddenly Aros surrounded himself in a globe-shaped dark ball of energy, "ALMAGEST!!!" he screamed out the spell as the dark energy began to expand, engulfing everyone in it. The energy, ready to explode turned bright as the blinding light, blinding everyone in the city and everyone screamed in pain as the blast happened.

The light finally vanished and so was Aros. Everyone slowly recovered from the blast and looked around for him. He was nowhere in sight. Ambulances came to tend to those who got severely wounded.

"He's… gone." Zidane said, looking around for Aros.

"Completely gone." Donald pointed out.

"But… where?" Goofy asked.

"I don't know." Lightning muttered, "And I do not want to know."

"Uh, guys?" Tidus said, "You wanna know something else? The Keybearers are gone too."

Everyone looked around and couldn't see the Keybearers also.

"Where are they?" Donald asked, then gasped, "Oh no… they didn't get taken out by the darkness!"

"They did." Terra replied, "And Aros took them with him!"

xXx

"_Oh, I'm sorry! Did I fail to mention that I'll let you all go, except for you twelve Keyblade failures?_"

The heroes appeared in the Awakening, where Aros's voice was echoing throughout the darkness like a god. The heroes noticed the Station they were standing on. The picture showed a sleeping Sora at the Land of Heroes, and opposite of him was Thunder (similar to Ven and Vanitas Station in KHBBS). But surrounding them were pictures of the Twelve Keyblade Riders, all looking like the main OCs, but with different features. The Twelve heroes were sleeping as well, but facing up-front with their hands slightly raised up like in praise.

The heroes got creeped out at this station they were seeing. "What's this?" Jean-Michel gulped.

"Is this… our Awakening?" Trayne asked, looking around.

"_No. It's the Chamber of Your Final Rest!_"

On cue, the Station started dissolving into the darkness slowly. The heroes huddled up, feeling trapped.

"_The place where you will ALL perish to nothingness!"_

Aros reemerged from behind Thunder, "Even for you, Thunder."

Thunder turned to face Aros again, when a wave of shock suddenly took over him, "You!" he gasped.

Aros raised a punch and struck Thunder far.

"Rian!" the teens called out to him. Thunder quickly recovered when he almost fell off the dissolving station.

"Put this in mind, worms." Aros said, "That we all have unfinished business to tend to. And I want no interruption."

Aros angelically looked up and started floating as more shadows began to extract from him. The teens transformed to their Keybearers Forms and summoned their Keyblades, ready to fight. But there wasn't any time. The dissolving Station was closing in on them. The shadows engulfed Aros and suddenly gave him a new look. A look no one saw coming or thought they were dealing with.

_"NYEEEH! HA! HA! HA! HA!"_

"Vanitas!!" they screamed.

"GRaaAaaaAwwwWlllL!" Aros—or Vanitas—was back in his masked form and unleashed more darkness from his body, more than ever before, alarming everyone.

"Summon your Keyblade Ride guys!" Thunder ordered upon noticing the Station was halfway down its end. He turned around, aimed his palm at the end of the Station and a path magically appeared.

"Keyblade Rides? We don't have a Keyblade Ride!" Ciel exclaimed.

"Just summon your Keyblades and tossed them in the air!" Thunder exclaimed, and everyone obeyed, turning their weapons to their respective vehicles.

A flood of darkness hovered behind Vanitas like a tidal wave and dark Keyblades and the large-claws heartless suddenly surrounded it. The Keybearers jumped on their vehicles. Thunder led the way with his Skid ability instead of his Keyblade Motorbike. Vanitas jumped on the dark tidal wave and as he was surfing on it and laughing maniacally, he gave chase. The Station finally dissolved completely to the darkness. Some who weren't on different vehicles were on standard Keyblade Motorbike.

The Keybearers were riding on their ride on the long pathway which kept creating more paths on the way, but then at the same time it got dissolved by Vanitas' Dark Tidal Wave.

_"NYEEEH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! __HA! You can't escape me now!!"_

"He's ganging up on us!" Ciel exclaimed.

"Yo, Rian! What about your ride?!" Sharx asked Thunder.

"I can't use it!" Thunder replied.

"Why not?!"

"Uh… it's kinda _your_ fault!?"

"_My_ fault?!"

"You got Aros to seal away my Keyblade, remember? Now all I can do is skid!"

"Oh, sorry man! My bad!"

"GRAWWWWL!!" Aros screamed as twelve Keyblades shot up from the dark tidal wave, and started raining down on the group, slowing them down. Everyone barely dodged the attacks.

"We're not gonna make it!" screamed Ciel, losing speed.

"Hang on Sierra!" Stone exclaimed, reaching out for his girlfriend.

"Don't give up!" Soledad exclaimed.

The Dark Tidal Wave got to Ciel and she dissolved, screaming.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!" Stone and Soledad screamed.

"This bastard has gone TOO FAR!" Arctic, who was riding on his Keyblade Ride—a sports car—exclaimed, before swerving it to face Aros. Everyone stopped and screamed at Jean-Michel, "No, no, NO! DON'T!"

"Arcwind!!" Arctic quickly pulled out a Keyblade from his sports car, raised it up, and unleashed an icy glow, then descended it to unleash a crescent-shaped projectile. The projectile dissolved right through the dark tidal wave.

"Didn't work!" everyone shouted.

Aros summoned twelve more Keyblade from the Tidal Wave and all of them nailed Arctic, taking him down in mass combo. He eventually fell on the Dark Tidal Wave, his screaming fading.

"ARCTIC!" the rest of the heroes all yelled. The Tidal Wave was closing in on them.

"COME ON!" Thunder shouted, taking off from the tidal wave, and all followed.

"_NYEEEH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! __HA! HA! HA!_" Aros was laughing again. "Two down, ELEVEN MORE TO FINISH!! _NYEEEH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! __HA! HA! HA!_"

Vanitas summoned more Keyblade from the Tidal Wave. The Keyblades this time fused to become a mechanical hand. The hand shot out from the tidal wave and grabbed onto Sharx's Copter by surprise.

"Axel!" the gang screamed as Sharx struggled with the force.

"You're not taking me down that easily!!" Sharx screamed, still trying to break free, but the hand kept constricting him at every struggle. The hand started pulling Sharx down to his doom.

"NOOO!!" everyone screamed, just as Sharx was about to get dissolved by the darkness. Cross jumped in at the last second with his Motorbike, and with his Keyblade swing, cut down the hand and freed Sharx's Copter. Cross got dissolved in the process.

"**NOOO**!!" Soledad screamed, watching her boyfriend vanishing to the darkness. Sharx looked back, shocked by what just happened.

"We gotta go, hurry!" Thunder pressured the gang and they kept on riding further to nowhere. The Tidal Wave was still closing in on them.

More Keyblades shot up from the dark tidal wave, and started raining down on the group, slowing them down further. Everyone barely dodged the attacks and Stone, Flora, Aegis, and Tandem soon fall victims.

"Only four more to finish!!" Vanitas declared, counting Thunder, Sharx, Soledad and Death-Scythe as the remaining survivors.

"Dude, when are we gonna stop running away and start fighting this crap?!" Sharx exclaimed.

"You think it's that easy?!" Soledad shouted at Sharx, "I just lost my boyfriend! He took the sacrifice to save you! Fighting this thing will be hopeless!"

"I didn't ask for him to save me!" Sharx exclaimed, "Much like he didn't ask himself to be part of the ENEMY LEAGUE!"

"You're still gonna get hung up on that?!" Soledad shouted back, "He didn't have a choice!!"

"Will you two stop arguing?! We got bigger fishes to fry here!" Death-Scythe exclaimed, "And we gotta work as a team to finish Vanitas before it's too late!"

"Work as a team…?" Thunder said just as a lightbulb came to his mind, "That's it!"

Thunder finally summoned his Keyblade, "Yes!" He shouted out loud, happy to have his Keyblade Magic back. He then pointed his Keyblade, opening up a Keyhole Portal, and the four heroes went through it. The Tidal Wave followed.

The gang ended up back in their Station, with a sunset-like background.

"What the—?" Sharx looked stunned.

"Why are we stopping?" Soledad asked.

"We need more help we can get." Thunder said before facing Soledad, "Sole, open another Keyblade Portal." He then faced Sharx and Death-Scythe, "Guys, say this spell with me! _Roar of the Sky_!"

Thunder raised his Keyblade in the air and a ferocious roar took over. Sharx and Death-Scythe joined in.

"_Roar of the Sky…"_

_"…came the Deadly Earth…" _

_"…as the Beast of the Deep Blue…"_

_"**ULTIMA!!! SHOWER THY MIGHT!!!**"_

The three screamed together and connected their Keyblades together, pointing toward the dark sky, and emitting a powerful ball of light. Vanitas who was coming in with his Tidal Wave watched the trio, "What's this?"

The Station the gang was standing on reacted to the Keyblades, emitting a bright shining light as the ball of light grew in size.

"This is… IMPOSSIBLE!" Vanitas screamed.

"**EXTERMINATE!!**"

"**NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"**

The trio swung their Keyblades toward Vanitas, sending the massive ball of light down his way. The ball took out the Dark tidal wave and engulfed Vanitas, sending him flying into the Keyblade Portal Soledad had opened. The light and the portal connected and the entire place got engulfed by light, blinding everyone in the process.

xXx

-**Midlight City Square-**

There was commotion at the city's square as news crew, police officers, paparazzi… pretty much the entire city, was cornering the Secret Service, the Security, and Terra, Donald, and Goofy. They were bombarding them with questions on the latest happening.

"Quiet people, people, please." Tidus said before grinning from ear to ear, "I can assure you that everything's gonna be _all _right."

"How are you so sure? Terra asked Tidus, "We're missing the ones these people are really after."

"How am I supposed to know?" Tidus said, shrugging, "I'm trying to calm down the city and focus their attention on me."

The Keyblade Portal opened up in front of everyone, catching everyone's attention. The portal shot out the eleven Keyblade heroes in midair, and they fell on the ground. They had returned to their regular forms and those who got swallowed by darkness had returned, untouched.

"…oy… what a ride." Pierre groaned.

"…Pierre! You're back!" Sierra happily hugged her boyfriend she thought she'd lost.

"Uh… yeah I guess…"

"…I am aching all over…" Violet sighed, rotating her neck and shoulder.

"Welcome back guys." Taylor smiled at her returning friends.

"…sheesh… next thing we gonna be getting is a mob." Axel muttered.

On cue the whole crowd rushed over to them and started bombarding them with questions, not giving them enough space.

"You HAD to speak Axel. You HAD to speak!!" Jean-Michel barked through the mob.

"Hey! Don't blame me for sharing a thought!!" Axel screamed through the mob.

xXx

Moments have passed since the battle with Aros/Vanitas, and the entire city of Midlight knew what has been going on all this time.

_"Reporting live here at Midlight City Square, we are now seeing the light of what has been happening for these past hours. It seems that our rebellious teens have just played an act of heroism! It's been reported that they have been involved in a game called Kingdom Hearts III Online HD, which according to the teens themselves, is not just a game, but a real deal that could jeopardize our world. You've seen it live here, of numerous proofs such as the criminal known as Aros, a Blackheart they call it, who battled the teens and destroyed a famous skyscraper with a dark bomb, and recently taken over our government, in an attempt to steal the worlds' heart. Comrades of these teens, who have been arrested by the Secret Service earlier today and perceived as aliens, happened to be from that game and have been helping these teens battle this evil entity to save our world instead of what was reported earlier. Some witnesses refuse to believe everything that has been happening, or the teens' confession and act of heroism, but they've seen it first at Midlight City and cannot deny it, that evil is threatening our very land once again. Could more threat be on its way? The Secret Service and the secret spy organization known as the Security have decided to be instrumental assets to the teens' attempt to save our world, as it now rests on their shoulders."_

The Keyblade heroes were talking to their classmates from Midlight City High at the square.

"Wow, man. And I thought you guys were a bunch of nobodies, especially Matt here." Skyler said, facing Matt.

"Matt didn't do anything…" Axel muttered, still unable to forgive Matt of his crimes and trying to ignore the fact that he saved him earlier.

"Are you kidding?" Trishelle exclaimed. "He saved Rian from that creepy freak heart! He was about to kill him, y'know?"

"Yeah, man. Imagine if he did that for _you_?" Skyler said to Axel, reminding him. Axel sulked. Matt, trying not to take too much credits tried to speak, "Guys, really. I don't think it's—!"

"Oh my gosh," Trish interrupted, "you guys, saving the world, is SO gonna be on the front page of the school's Facebook Newsletter!" she squealed, "This is gonna be so exciting!"

Taylor was staring back at Matt awkwardly. She tried to say something to him, but didn't know what. Unable to do so, she looked away and walked away. Matt sighed, "…Taylor."

Thunder placed a hand on Matt's shoulder. A saddened Matt faced him.

"Don't worry about it. She'll come around." Thunder smiled, before watching Taylor walking away, "…it's not your fault. You were tricked."

"But will she understand that?" Matt sighed.

"Oh heck yeah. Sole is a good-hearted person. …and thanks for saving me back there when I needed it."

Thunder then faced Axel and nodded, giving him the chance to say something to Matt. But Axel was hesitant.

Sierra looked saddened as she watched Taylor, "Poor Taylor. To find out that your boyfriend was working for an evil organization must be worst than catching your boyfriend cheating on your best friend."

"Augh!!" Jean-Michel angrily fist-pounded on his palm, "If I ever find that friggin' dawg who exposed our secret, I swear I would pin their face right thru a wall!"

"You said it, bud!" Denzel agreed.

"Yeah, about that…" Lightning said, joining the conversation. She glanced over at Milene who was shaking her head, telling her not to say a thing. But Lightning pushed her in front center, "Someone got a say about this."

"Milene?" Sierra said.

"Uhh…" Milene hesitated, "Well… I don't know what to say actually…"

"Should I for you?" Lightning asked Milene, almost sounded threatening.

"What's going on?" Taylor asked, joining the conversation.

"It's about Milene… and her Secret Service relationship." Lightning said.

Denzel gasped, "…are you from the Secret Service too?"

"Hey, wait a minute; I know what's going on here." Trayne said.

Milene was sweating.

"Maybe you should tell us Trayne." Lightning said to Trayne.

"OKAY, OKAY! I'LL TELL YOU!" Milene barked, "I DID IT, OKAY! I exposed your secret! THERE!"

Everyone gasped.

"No, you di-n't." Jean-Michel said quietly.

Milene waved the picture to the teens, to Sierra's face. "I had to do that to punish you for insulting my IMAGE back at Homecoming! You _had _it coming!"

Sierra's eyes went wide, "_You…_exposed our secret… to the public…?"

There was an awkward silence.

"WHY YOU—?!" Sierra grabbed Milene by her shirt with her claws, ready to rip her clothes off and give her a bashing. The teens all grabbed onto the girls, trying to pull them apart.

"Ooh, a girl fight in PUBLIC." Denzel grinned, "Something I get to see."

"Denzel!"

Denzel heard a familiar shout. Denzel turned to face Selena running toward him, and before he could even react, she hugged him tight.

"Hey, whoa, Sel! What's with—! What's with the hug?" he choked.

"I'm never gonna leave you again! Never, ever, EVER!"

"Okay… but you can let go now. Still choking…" Denzel gasped.

"Why don't I let you two lovebirds alone while I go watch the fight?" Trayne chuckled, patting Denzel's shoulder and left them alone to go watch the commotion.

"Lovebirds?!" Denzel's eyes went wide, and before he knew it, Selena plugged her lips onto his, sharing a passionate kiss.

Meanwhile, Kami was looking around the still busy square, searching for her father. She could have sworn she heard his voice on that helicopter earlier. She saw Tidus and Zidane nearby and approached them to confront them when she heard her parents calling out from behind.

"Kami!"

She turned to see Noah and his wife, Rika Tsubasa, rushing toward her.

"We've heard what happened." Noah said.

"What were you thinking, getting involved in such thing?" Rika exclaimed, "I had to postpone my monthly marketing meeting because of you."

"Oh, cut the crap you two. Especially you, Dad." Kami said, facing her father.

Noah hesitated, "What are you talking about?"

"I know it was you in that Security helicopter." Kami revealed, "I could tell from the sound of your voice."

"Me, part of the Security?" Noah said, before letting out a heartily laugh. Rika joined in the laugh as well, "Honey, seriously." Noah went on, "I don't even know who the Security is. Let alone know who the _boss _of that Security is."

"Yeah you do." Tidus said, coming to the conversation. Zidane, Rika and Noah tried to get him to shut up, but he wouldn't listen and kept talking, "You're like, the boss of the Security, and you also call it the PKK Secret Service. Your codename is Orchestra!"

Zidane finally smacked Tidus by the head, "What is wrong with you pal! Gosh!"

Tidus finally saw Kami and realized his mistake, "Ooops."

Kami faced her parents again with a leering expression that demanded an explanation. Noah and Rika gulped. "Okay, fine." Noah said, "I know the Security. Heck I founded it. But…"

Kami walked away without saying anything. Noah sighed. Rika wrapped her arm on his shoulder in affection, "Hey, honey. It's okay. She'll come around. But next time you wanna keep a secret from your daughter… don't tell Tidus."

Meanwhile, Thunder briefly left his busy group to join Terra, Donald, and Goofy.

"Johnny Thunder." Terra greeted Thunder with a smile and a hug, "It is good to see my friend again."

"Same here Terra dude!" Thunder returned the hug. He then faced Goofy and Donald, "And Donald Duck and Goofy! My boyz!" He hugged Goofy and Donald tightly.

"Ow, you're hurting me…" Donald complained, though he managed to smile.

"We thought you were a goner." Goofy told Thunder.

"Well, I'm not. See." Thunder gloated, "And if you wanna know about my Earthy Twin Rian, you'll be happy to know that he is completely safe. He is with Mickey right now."

Donald, Goofy and Terra looked at each other, delighted to this news, "Really?!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed.

Thunder placed a hand on his heart and two shining lights circled around him. The two lights materialized to form D-Link versions of Rian and King Mickey.

"Your Majesty!" Donald, Goofy and Terra bowed to the tiny King, before facing Rian, "Rian! You're safe as well." Terra smiled.

"Terra? Donald? Goofy?" D-Link Rian looked around, "Okay, for some reason I feel like I'm back home, but I'm not."

"Dude, you're in D-Link Form." Thunder reminded him, "I summoned you."

"My friends Donald and Goofy." D-Link Mickey greeted, "Oh, how terrible do I feel for abandoning you without a written consent. I had some pressing matters to attend, and I still do."

"We understand your Majesty." Donald said, "Terra told us everything."

"We still can't believe Sora's gone." Goofy said, shaking his head.

"I know. That must be hard on you guys." D-Link Rian said, before facing the rest of the heroes nearby at the square, "Hey, it's my friends!" he opened his mouth to call them but Thunder put his hand on his mouth to keep him quiet, "Shh. Keep it quiet man! You're gonna get us busted!"

"Gosh, I'm sorry Rian, but we can't let the Keybearers know about Thunder." D-Link Mickey informed him, "This secret must be kept between us, or else the Dominion will know Thunder's still alive."

"So, we switch back." D-Link Rian proposed.

"Dude, we can't do that." Thunder explained, "We gotta keep our distance. Switching back will be too risky. And if the Dominion finds out about us… well, let just say that we cannot relive what happened to the Keyblade Riders back at Radiant Gardens."

"Ah, yes." Terra remembered that fateful day back at Radiant Garden's Bastion, "These Blackhearts can be quite aggressive when it comes to killing. Especially when they do so in teams."

"It's Thunder job to keep the Blackhearts' actions at bay, until we've reunited all the Riders." D-Link Mickey said, "Which is why we should head to the Mysterious Tower like we planned."

D-Link Rian looked back at his friends who were still interacting with each other. If only he could join them again… he sighed. "All right. We'll keep it a secret." he said, "…for our safety. But Donald and Goofy is coming with us too. For extra safety."

Donald and Goofy looked surprised, "Whaaa?!"

"But what about the others?" Goofy asked.

"Don't worry about the others." D-Link Rian said, "Terra and Thunder will lead them, right?"

"No sweat buddy." Thunder smiled, "I'll make sure the whole group will behave like sweet little children."

Terra gave Thunder a questionable look, "Do you even know how little children behave?"

Thunder hesitated, "…sweet?"

Everyone stared at Thunder puzzlingly.

"Anyway," D-Link Rian returned to the conversation, "Just make sure that you keep your true identity under low profile, a'ight? Don't act cocky. Act more like me!"

"A doofus?"

"No, a bad boy! Oh, and you should probably know their names too, to avoid suspicion: Taylor, Sierra, Pierre, Matt, Violet, Axel, Denzel, Trayne, Kami is the crazy one, and Jean-Michel Elincio is the celebrity. Got it?"

"Ser, Tami, Kate, Michelle Licia… wait, WHAT?" Thunder exclaimed.

"Gotta GOOOO!" D-Link Mickey said before he and D-Link Rian vanished in light, taking off into the air.

"W-wait!" Goofy called out to the sky for King Mickey, "Where are we suppose to meet you?!"

The teens rejoined the gang, "Meet who?" Axel asked curiously.

Goofy hesitated, "Uhh… meet with the uhh…"

"…the Mayor of Midlight City?" Donald covered for him, "I mean he heard about us, so we should be getting some special treatment or something, right?"

The teens looked at each other. Meeting with the Mayor actually does sound like a good idea, since they got the city's attention now.

**~End of KHIII Online HD:: Keyblade Riders~**

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**Hey everyone! It's** **Rian! **_KHIII Online HD _is all-new, new ways, as we are now traveling our separate ways!

So all's well that ends well… sorta. We still have to find Talen, and the Keyblade Riders… and yeah, we gotta find Kami's sister Tenshu too… heck this battle is far from over.

Here's a long look at our upcoming adventures in _KHIII Online HD_

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**On the Next upcoming Chapters of KH3 Online HD  
Longest Preview, May contain Spoilers for some (at your own risk)  
**_(scenes subject to change in the episodes)_

"So we should travel the worlds in team." Thunder said to the Keybearers inside the Gummi Ship, "It'll make it easier to clean up some messes and get rid of some Blackheart trash."

"I like the way you think." Axel replied.

xXx

-**_Castle of Dreams_**-

"HiiIIIiiIIIiiSSssSS!"

"AAAAAAAHH!!!" Axel, Kami, Sierra, and Goofy screamed at the sight of a giant hairless cat shrieking in front of them.

"Wh-whoaahh! Wh-what is that thing?" Axel trembled.

"I think that's a cat." Kami replied.

"That's a c-cat?!" Sierra screamed.

"That's not a cat! That's a serpent with paws!!" Goofy shuddered.

"HiiIIIiiIIIiiSSssSS!"

xXx

-**_Mysterious Tower_**-

"Your powers need polishing, young warrior." Yen Sid said to Rian, "You need proper training."

"Please, Master Yen Sid. I don't need training. My powers are totally fine." Rian threw a hand in dismissal, and a laser firework shot from it. The laser bounced at every corner of Yen Sid's study, shattering lightbulbs from his chamber and his desk lamp, almost striking Mickey, Pluto, Rian, and Yen Sid, burning books on shelves to crisp, and suddenly set Donald on fire, who just arrived at the scene with Goofy. He started screaming and running around, causing everyone to panic and Pluto to chase him. Mickey stepped in front of Donald, pointed at him and water stream shot from his finger, dousing the duck. There was an awkward silence when all eyes turned to a blackened duck, who glared back at Rian and coughed up a smoke.

"Maaybe I do need training." Rian grinned nervously.

xXx

-**_Agrabah_**-

"It appears that the Dominion has taken over Casim's mind." Firion informed Aladdin, who appeared shocked to the news, "The man you thought of as your father is no longer that man."

"Is there any ways to free him?" Aladdin desperately asked.

"There should be." Firion replied.

xXx

**-_Radiant Gardens_-**

"We've been hearing rumors of another Keyblade wielder spotted around town." Leon said to the Keybearers, "I believe it could very well be the One."

"We sensed his presence in our heart." Aerith said, laying a hand on her heart on cue.

xXx

-**_Olympus Coliseum_**-

"IT'S ZACK FAIR AND HERCULES!!!" screaming fan girls were heard from across the town. The heroes watched as the screaming girls' came out of nowhere charging toward Zack and Hercules. Zack jumped onto Jean-Michel's arms, and Hercules jumped onto Lightning's arms, dodging the girls' stampede. Terra moved out of the way, letting the stampede continuing their crazed run toward their target: Violet! They tackled her full-force and began massacring her with no knowledge that they got the wrong person.

Jean-Michel glared at Zack who shrugged and grinned.

"You just enjoy rubbing your little fame of yours to my face, don't you?" Jean-Michel said jealously.

xXx

**-_Sherwood Forest_-**

"Why are we wearing these ridiculous costumes?" Denzel complained to Robin Hood and Little John. The heroes were dressed up in old maiden costumes.

"Why, so that we can rob the royal Prince John himself without getting spotted." Robin explained.

"The one time I forgot to bring my camera." Trayne, being the only ones dressed in green tunic, giggled.

"Not Funny!" Pierre grumbled.

xXx

**-_Beast's Castle-_**

Thunder, Taylor and Donald immediately stopped running as they came face-to-face with Belle.

"Belle!" they said together.

"Okay, is there's something that you're not telling me?" The angry princess asked, hands on her hips.

"Maybe there is something that you're not telling _me_, princess." Thunder smiled at Belle, raising his eyebrow flirtatiously.

"Aw, come on!" Taylor and Donald hollered in disgust, and Belle looked on flabbergasted.

xXx

**_-Notre-Dame-_**

"Is that Quasimodo?" Tenshu pointed and everyone looked up to see the angry hunchback, freed from his chains, swinging on a rope from the cathedral's balcony over the entire city watching at the stake site.

"That _is _Quasimodo!" Talen replied, "You go, Quas-boy!"

"Impossible!" Frollo exclaimed.

xXx

"Let me warn you before it gets nasty, old geezer." Thunder said to Master Xehanort after closing in on him, "The Terra you see now has changed. Once he remembers what you did to his comrades and what you did to him… believe me… _you _are gonna be sorry you were even born."

Xehanort smiled, "I'd like to see that day happening myself."

"Trust me." Thunder smiled back, "It will."

xXx

"Step back, girlfriend. And I, am gonna show you how to rock out…" said Hannah Montana to Sierra before facing a multitude of Heartless in front of her, "…like a rockstar."

She magically made the micstand appeared and struck a pose, arm in the air, finger pointing up. A massive sound wave immediately poured out of her, flooding the entire place and striking the heartless with its loudest tunes.

(Several scenes of some Keybearers with their D-Link Summons)

Thunder and Fantasia Mickey on top of a mountain, performing Holy Blast like they were conducting an orchestra, Fantasia-style with the Fantasmic tune playing in the background.

Blazen and Mushu shooting out fires in circular motion… Stone raising from the ground a large cauldron before joining Remi cooking up some boiling Heartless stew… Flora and Kim Possible flying off-screen and crossing over their opponent in slashing combos… Sharx flying onto Goliath orbiting around the shaking planet… Chernabog on Balm Mountain raising himself over his enemies, with Kami in front of him looking all-high and mighty… Jean-Michel driving on Lightning McQueen, leaving patches of ice across the road…

xXx

"We have finally found it," said Yen Sid, before facing King Mickey, "our Keyblade Champion."

xXx

The thirteen Keybearers watched as the Red-Armored Keyblade Knight approached them from afar at the Keyblade Graveyard fogged up with scorching heat.

"Ready to end this." He spoke through his mask, summoned his Keyblade and in turn, summoned a mass army of the heartless with the large claws.

"If that's what you want…" Thunder said before running toward the knight with his Keyblade. The heartless all charged toward the heroes at the same moment. Thunder jumped over the knight who was still standing and took a swing of his Keyblade.

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**(End of Preview)  
Get ready for the Next Chapter!! Starting with… **

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**_-_**_Journey Back to the Realm of Light**-**_

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**Author's Note: **A new poll is up on my profile: Which one of the upcoming fanfics would you like to see me work on next? You can find more information about these Upcoming Projects in the Upcoming Projects section under my profile, and vote for your upcoming favorite. Only one vote per person. Voting ends in June. Thanks everyone :)


	19. Ep17: Journey Back to the Realm of Light

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

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::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::  
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_**-**Journey Back to the Realm of Light**-**_

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* * *

_

It has been a week since the lives of our heroes changed forever. And it all started when the video game _Kingdom Hearts III Online HD _got released to the public of Midlight City. The game got gamers all across the country into the action_. _But the action soon turned real for teen gaming champion, Rian Rivers, when he got a run-in with a heartless and Keyblade Knight Terra. The latter soon revealed to him the true nature of the game. It was a trap, set by the Blackheart Dominion, a league of Keyblade Champions who have given themselves to Darkness, in an attempt to steal Rian's KH game avatar's heart of Pure Bravery among the legendary Thirteen Hearts of Pure Bravery from the game, all belonging to twelve other KH players and himself. In order for Rian to save his own heart and these twelve others, the teen got forced to join forces with these KH players all over Midlight City, by assuming the role of his KH Keybearer avatar, Johnny 'Thunder' Keyblade, and gaining his Keyblade powers.

Rian eventually joined force with eleven of these Players/Keybearers on the ultimate mission: some alliance was unexpected, like Rian's rival Talen; some were expected like his best friend Taylor and her boyfriend Matt; and some came from out of the blue or as a big surprise, like the introverted Kami and the celebrity Jean-Michel. The mission was running smoothly until a sudden twist of events changed everything.

Rian and Talen suddenly got erased by Blackheart member Phantamis, the Illusion. Rian was the initial target but Talen had jumped in at the last minute in an attempt to save his rival, only to get erased in the process. Phantamis soon revealed to the heroes that their erasure attempt was part of the Dominion's change of plan regarding the heroes' Hearts. But unknown to them the erasure was instead a warning. A warning set up by sneaky Blackheart member Alistare as he plots to overturn the Dominion around and pursue the Dominion's—or his own true desire: Kingdom Hearts. Such plot could soon set out an all-out war among the Dominion members over possession for ultimate power, and change the heroes' mission to save the Universe.

And Talen, who was thought to be erased, would find himself in the middle of the scuffle.

**-Dominion's Lounge-**

Talen's eyelids fluttered open upon hearing footsteps on ivory floor. Someone touched him lightly on the shoulder then shook it, forcing him to wake up.

"Hey, wakey-wakey, sleeping beauty! No time to be snoozin'!"

Talen heard a familiar voice and blinked hard several times, clearing up the blurry vision circling in front of him to see who it was. He saw Phantamis, the Illusion.

"Happy to see me?" said Phantamis.

"Ugh… define Happy." Talen grunted, glaring at his enemy. He noticed himself glued to a stone wall and dark magicks formed as bindings were holding him prisoner by the wrists and ankles. "And what is the meaning of this? I thought I was erased!"

"You _weren't_ erased. No thanks to you." Phantamis said, "But the good news is, your friend you tried to rescue got the axe."

Talen shook his head, "That's a lie. Why do you even lie?"

"Why do you insist on me lying?" Phantamis smiled, "It's the truth." He moved his hand toward Talen to touch his cheek, but Talen quickly moved his head away from him, and glared at him.

"Don't you touch me, you leeched frigging freak!" He insulted, "You wanna touch me again, and it's on."

"Oh, it's on huh? Wanna piece of me, I'm right here." Phantamis provoked.

The duo was getting in each other's faces when the door flew open, catching their attentions. Ivy, Tidicus, Percicle and Firias had barged in the Lounge. And Phantamis was sensing tension between them.

"_You_ won't believe what has happened to Aros." Ivy said, "He got erased."

"What?" Phantamis gasped.

"And you won't believe who erased him. Rian Rivers, the Johnny 'Thunder' Keyblade." Percicle said.

"WHAT?" Phantamis exclaimed, "I thought… I thought we erased him!"

"Apparently, his _foolish_ companion ruined everything by saving him!" said the angry Firias, glaring at Talen.

Talen smiled at Firias, "Well then, I guess this foolish companion did the right thing, unlike _somebody_ who hasn't done a single damn thing to save _his _foolish companion."

"WHATCHU SAID WIMP?" Firias pulled a fist and angrily approached Talen, but his friends quickly restrained him.

"Firias calm down, he's not worth it!" Tidicus said, "We got bigger things to worry about. And that is…"

Before Tidicus could finish, the Dominion and Talen began hearing arguments nearby. They didn't know what was going on, until the door blasted open and in flew Alistare at high speed to the ground. Alistare appeared completely bruised up, as if someone had struck him a massive blow. Maurchel followed, walking with an angry look on his face.

"How dare you, you senile old crone…" Maurchel grabbed Alistare by the neck and raised him off the ground to everyone's surprise. "How dare you interfering with my plans."

"Eh…eh…eh… plan?" Alistare chuckled, sounding like he was not in any pain, "What plan?"

Alistare raised his arm and moved it down, striking Maurchel down on his kneed. Maurchel cringed and released Alistare. Maurchel was now knelt before Alistare. "There was no plan from the beginning, you pale freak. No plan in bringing this old crone you call your father."

Maurchel stood up as if he was no longer in pain, "He's YOUR father too you know?" he barked.

"Father? Hey what's going on around here?" Talen curiously asked, but the Dominion ignored him.

"I cannot BELIEVE that all of this was your doing!" Maurchel angrily barked, "We were supposed to be collecting Hearts of Pure Bravery from all of these cretins Keyblade Riders! But no, you HAD to lock them away from the Realm of Light, erased Johnny Thunder, and bringing his unstable best friend here instead!"

"HEY!" Talen shouted, "And it's unstable rival to you! And I'm NOT unstable!"

"This unstablebest friend was a mistake, remember?" Alistare said, "He tried to ruin my plan in the first place. Fortunately he didn't succeed."

There was a brief awkward silence among the populace, before Maurchel started laughing, "Oh… right! I guess you haven't heard!"

Alistare didn't like the sound of that, "Heard what?" he questioned Maurchel, who continued to laugh. The Mastermind looked at the other Dominion who simply shrugged. He screamed again, "HEARD WHAT?"

"GAaaaAAH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!" Maurchel continued to laugh. The laughter was so deafening and so creepy that Alistare was losing patience. "If you're not telling me, what I haven't heard… I will personally make you tell me MYSELF!"

Maurchel wiped a tear, "Ooh, boy! Looks like your plan to erase Johnny Thunder Keyblade, was nothing but a Blackheart failure. Take a look!" Maurchel waved his hand over to the shining moon, and showed an image of Thunder among the other Keybearers teens. Alistare's eyes widened as Maurchel continued to laugh.

"What is the meaning of this…?" Alistare breathed angrily. He then faced Phantamis, "YOUR JOB WAS SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM! NOT SPARE HIM!"

"That's what I did!" Phantamis said, "But…"

"BUT WHAT?"

"But you failed." Maurchel said to Alistare, catching his attention, "You've tried to block away these Keybearers from the Realm of Light, so that I won't have access to their Hearts of Pure Bravery and resurrect Father. But you would have access to them. Additionally, you will have access to all the Hearts of Pure Light as well… starting with Snow White's, am I right?"

Maurchel opened his palm to reveal Snow White's Heart. It was indeed brimming with Pure Light. Talen was shocked to see this. So Snow White's predicament _was_ true, he thought. He and the others tried to protect her, but eventually failed. He hatedthat. He hatedthem!

"Damn you Blackhearts!" Talen screamed, "I cannot believe you did that to this poor lovely princess!"

"That's not all of it." Maurchel continued, completely ignoring Talen, "Not only you tried to do that, but you eventually failed, when these teens finally joined force with the Keybearer of Darkness Naraku: her powers, able to open the Realm of Light again. You've lost this part. So you were so livid at this revelation, you _had _to go for the next plan of action! Getting rid of the final seal to reviving our Father."

Talen gasped, already guessing who the final seal was, "Rian…"

"So you admit it!" Alistare said to Maurchel, "You admit that you were planning to revive Master Xehanort!"

Talen heard that and fear struck his heart, "M-M-Master Xehanort…?"

"It's Father to you!" Maurchel corrected Alistare, "And yes, THAT was my plan. THAT was my goal! But that doesn't mean that I have betrayed my trust with the Dominion. YOU DID! You deliberately sabotaged our plan since these Keybearers pests left Dwarf Woodlands, and that is going to stop! I am the leader of this group, and whatever I decide, we decide TOGETHER!"

"But Maurchel, seriously, we haven't even talked about this—!" Tidicus tried to speak but Maurchel angrily interrupted, "Shut up, Charming One! I'm the leader here and when I say jump, you jump! ANYBODY GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?"

The Dominion all shook their heads, all except Alistare.

"Unfortunately for you…" Alistare muttered, "…I do."

Maurchel and Alistare immediately locked eyes. Then, in a sudden split second, Alistare rushed at Maurchel and impaled him with his entire arm through his chest to everyone's horror. Maurchel coughed up blood. Alistare pulled his arm out of Maurchel's chest, with Maurchel's Heart in hand. Maurchel began to disintegrate as his body was heading for the ground. The moment his body hit the ground, it vanished completely, releasing dark sparkles and smokes into the air.

The attack drew the rest of the Dominion to the room. Everyone, including Talen, as stunned and shocked at this sudden twist, watched Alistare raised Maurchel's Heart over the moon. The moon was shining and the Heart began to disintegrate as well, releasing its power and swirling around Alistare. Alistare cackled evilly as he was floating and feeling more energy and strength from Maurchel's Heart, and a dramatic opera piece was heard playing across the chamber.

The heart finally vanished into Alistare and Alistare glared around, at everyone horrific faces. They all saw where Maurchel used to stand. The only thing that was left of him now was a black stain and a silver one right in the middle. It was as if his hair got fried.

"My gosh…" Talen whispered. He couldn't believe the horror he saw firsthand. These Blackheart members are cold-blooded killers! Even the Blackhearts were shocked!

"Now, that this traitor insect is gone, I'm the leader here now! And when I say jump, you jump! Anyone has a problem with my plan now?" Alistare asked his comrades, but there were no response.

"ANYBODY GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?" He asked again, and they all shook their heads this time, "Good."

"You…" Talen breathed, "You _killed _one ofyour own people? Your leader even?"

Alistare turned to glare at Talen.

"How could you do that, man?" Talen exclaimed, "I… I mean I'm not a big fan of your group here! But this… this is COLD!"

"We were NOT on the same page." Alistare told Talen, "You heard us, right? Or were you deaf to hear us?"

"So you had disagreement, big whoop!" Talen argued, "I disagree with my buddies sometimes, my cuz… but I wouldn't think about, straight-up killin' them!"

"Buddies are a waste of my time!" Alistare bellowed, "And who asked you? You want me to bring him back to life and let him take over the Dominion and bring back Master Xehanort? Fine. I'll do that. OH! Wait! I can't do that because my specialty is on Death! And Death only." He said the last phrase creepily.

Talen gulped, "I ain't afraid of you." He said, "Heck, I ain't afraid of any of you! You may hurt me all you like but you won't hurt my friends. I saved Rian once, much to my surprise, but I would do it again in a heartbeat!"

"Sure." Alistare chuckled, "So tell me about this… secret of yours? Y'know, the one you used to save your rival, or your frenemy, or whatever slang you kids these days name each other?"

Talen hesitated, "What are you talking about?"

"You _know _what I'm talking about." Alistare said, "I'm talking about your visions! What a precious gift from such a youngster wouldn't you say?"

Talen shook his head, "I don't get visions." He lied, "Where did you—?"

"Oh, stop lying boy." Phantamis interrupted, "If it wasn't because of your vision, you wouldn't be here right now. But since you thwarted our attack on him, how about we thwart something else on you."

Talen didn't like the sound of that, "W-what…what are you gonna thwart?" Talen's voice shook when he saw Alistare approaching. Alistare said nothing. Talen struggled as Alistare with his creepy finger, slowly reached up near Talen's forehead, "HEY! Get away from me, you creepy geezer! I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!"

_Clavisisparus Debilito pectus pectoris adveho tenebris!_

Alistare whispered these phrases and nailed his finger on Talen's forehead.

"GUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

A white flash of light took over Talen's head as the young man screamed an agonizing pain.

**xXx**

Elsewhere, Rian who was thought to be gone was alive and rescued by King Mickey and a mysterious Keyblade Rider: his own twin from the KH Universe Thunder. Thunder chose to switch roles with Rian, joining force with the Keybearers, while Rian is forced to travel with the King to find the rest of the Keyblade Riders. Donald, Goofy, and Terra have learned of Thunder's return, but none of the teens are aware of such fact as Thunder's true identity and Rian's whereabouts are being kept secret from them for their protection against the Dominion. But for how long will this go on for our fearless Keyblade Rider and his mortal twin to blend in each other's shoes? As they will soon be prepared for a return back to the Realm of Light on their ultimate mission to defeat the Blackheart Dominion and save the realm of light and their own world, such task will be proven difficult for our doubles, sooner than later.

Rian and Mickey were traveling a large green field when Rian felt a sharp pain on his skull.

"ARrrgh!" he held on to his head, squinting in pain.

"Rian!" Mickey approached him, "You're okay?"

"Ahh…" Rian stumbled back, grunting in agonizing pain. He went down on his knees.

"Oh, dear. You're not okay." Mickey said, "Hold on." He placed a hand on Rian's forehead, but he felt it like a furnace on contact. "Yeowwch!" he jumped.

"Aahhh… help me, King…" Rian kept screaming.

Mickey didn't know what to do. Rian slowly his eyes and they were completely white.

"Whoaa!" Mickey gasped. He saw Rian's eyes projecting an image like an overhead to Mickey's surprise. The image appeared to both comrades, similar to when they saw Vanitas earlier. The image was no pleasure either. It showed Talen getting tortured by Alistare.

"Ohh, no." Mickey said.

"Talen…" Rian grunted, "…but how… what's happenin', King?"

"It looks like… you're having a vision." Mickey breathed.

"GUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Talen was still screaming through the image.

"What… are they doing to him?" Rian grunted. He could feel Talen's pain as his agonizing pain. Finally he closed his eyes, banishing that image out of his mind. The image vanished on cue, and Rian collapsed on the ground.

"Rian?" Mickey called him but he didn't respond. "RIAN!"

…

A moment later, Rian slowly woke up. His eyes were back to normal. He was resting under a tree but he still felt felt some pain, but it wasn't as horrible as before.

"Rian! You're all right." Mickey breathed a sigh of relief, "You had me scared for a second."

"Talen…" Rian breathed shallowly, remembering his vision, "We… we've gotta help him." he said, trying to stand up.

"We can't!" Mickey said to him, as he was helping Rian up.

"But… why?" Rian exclaimed, "Is it because of the Dominion? Our secret again?" He finally stood on his feet, still feeling that mild pain.

"We can't afford this." Mickey replied, "And the Dominion thinks that you're still at Midlight City. We have to keep them thinking that!"

Rian sighed, "I wish I could help him. He _did_ save me, much to my surprise. If only I could return him that favor."

Mickey smiled, "You can, actually. And the best way to do that is if we talk to Master Yen Sid about these images you've been having."

"The one with the sharp pain?" Rian asked, "I don't get it. How come that first image I had, I didn't get any pain, but this one I did?"

"That image had something to do with your relationship with Talen. Your relationship with each other, and your Keyblade Riders' relationship as well…"

Rian remembered that conversation he had with Thunder. He still cannot believe that Thunder and Blazen were best friends, when he and Talen appear to hate each other. Maybe it's in their hearts, he thought.

"Don't worry." Mickey reassured him, "Once we reach the Mysterious Tower, we will figure out together why you've been getting these visions. I have a feeling this has something to do with your powers."

"Great…" Rian mumbled, "I'm getting more powers now. And this one is a doozy. Can we go to that Mysterious Tower now, and stop wasting time? I'm antsy!"

The impatient Rian, full of energy again, took off running, leaving Mickey behind. Mickey smiled, shaking his head, "Just like Thunder…" he said before following.

**xXx**

With the inclusion of Rian and Talen being gone from the rank, the teens' secret got exposed to the public. As chosen Keybearers to protect the world, the public thought they were out to destroy it. But their encounter with Blackheart member Aros, and his revelation as Vanitas, changed all of that. A hard truth to swallow, it took the public time to accept the teens' fates and soon treated them as celebrities.

But Vanitas' encounter has changed things between the heroes when Matt's true past has been uncovered as an ex-member of the Dominion. Matt, thought to be a devoted down-to-earth young man among the Thirteen Keybearers, was working for the enemy all along. Now cofounded by the naked truth, the comrades are forced to make a decision. A decision that will greatly affect their friendship, and their future.

Kami was back at the hospital, by her brother's bedside, watching him peacefully. She then looked out the window for a brief period, a thought running through her mind. She finally spoke.

"Well, Tenshu. You missed out on a lot of things: the entire city knowing our secret, the gang and I getting captured by the US Secret Service, and get this…"

She then faced her brother, "…our dad works for the Security. Can you believe that? Our dad? For the Security. Isn't that madness?"

Her brother was unresponsive.

"Yeah, I thought so too." She responded quickly, but then began to think again.

"But…" she sighed, "If you weren't in the coma, I'm sure you would have told me something else, like give our dad a break or something." She angrily faced her brother, "But I can't give him a break. He lied to me. Hey, he lied to _all _of us!Wouldn't that be a problem to you?"

No response. Once again, Kami replied to herself, "Yeah, you wouldn't have to deal with it."

Another moment of silence and Kami got up from her seat and leaned closer to her comatose sibling with a scorn look on her face, "I'm going to head out now." She said, "But for the love of grace, you better pull through…"

She looked around to see if no one was listening. Everything was quiet. Kami then shed a tear, finally letting free of the emotion she was harboring inside. "You better pull through, big brother." She said tearfully, "Because we all need you… sniff… and your talent."

She bashfully leaned in toward her brother for a forehead kiss, when she began hearing muffling sound. The muffling sounded like they came from inside Tenshu's body.

"Tenshu?" she gasped, "Did you say something?"

Before she could hear again, a voice spoke behind her. "I haven't said anything."

Kami turned around to see Tenshu's doctor standing there. Half-Indonesian and half-Japanese, he had short black hair and black eyes.

"Dr. Joedo." Kami called him. The doctor entered the room.

"Didn't hear Tenshu?" Kami asked him, "He sounded like he was mumbling or something."

"I didn't hear anything." The doctor genuinely said, shaking his head. "But I sure wish I didn't hear the latest news, Kami."

Kami bashfully looked down, "Oh."

"Yeah. 'Oh.' " The doctor said in a tone, "Why didn't you tell me, for crying out loud, that you, my son, and the rest of you kids were fighting crime in the first place?"

Kami shrugged, "I don't know. It was all so sudden." She sat down, "Much like Tenshu's condition came in all the sudden."

"Honey, we _all _know where Tenshu's condition came from." Dr. Joedo said and Kami knew what he was talking about: the Blackheart Dominion. The same ones who erased Rian and Talen must surely be the ones who put Tenshu in this condition.

She turned to face the doctor, "You know something?"

"I wish I _knew_ something." Dr. Joedo said, "I could have helped."

The doctor approached Tenshu to check his eyes, ears, and throat. "With everything that we have heard lately on the news, I'm beginning to think that what happened to your brother is beyond medical condition."

He finished examining Tenshu and then turned to face Kami, _"You _have to deal with this, and bring your brother back."

Kami nodded. After a brief moment of silence she spoke again, "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

Dr. Joedo smiled, "Hey, like you said before, it was all so sudden." He placed a hand on Kami's shoulder, "Make sure you tell Axel how proud I am of him… and of you too."

**xXx**

_"It's been a week since the big battle over at the Midlight City Skyscraper between the enigmatic creature Vanitas alias Aros, and our city heroes who call themselves Keybearers occurred; and the city is still buzzing about their act of heroism which was first mistaken as an act of terrorism. Their action brought attention not only to the city but to the entire world even, as our heroes were invited to join force with the UN, International war troops, even meet with Presidents, Royalties, and Emperors from all over. Despite this massive celebrity status, all these kids want to do is to deal with the menace that is still threatening our very lives. This has been your Midlight City Daily Report, I'm Dan Sawyer."_

"Why did we have to cancel dinner with the Governor of California?" Axel was complaining to Terra as he and the rest of the teens who also looked upset, were walking down a large secluded hallway with the Keyblade Knight, "I wanted to meet with him!"

"This is the quiet hour." Terra said, "At times like these the enemy is at bay and it's our chance for a strike if we are to defeat them."

"Terra. It's the _Governor of California_!" Denzel exclaimed and the teens all responded in full agreement, "Who else could it be?"

"It could have been me," Jean-Michel responded, "But since I'm with you guys, rejoice."

"Dude. We already know who you are. We don't care anymore." Violet said.

The group reached the sub-basement that would lead to the Security base.

Trayne looked around, "Hey, where's Taylor? Haven't seen her since she and Matt broke up."

"They broke up?" Pierre looked confused.

"Uhh… yeah!" Sierra told her boyfriend, "Sheesh, Pierre. Keep up with the news."

"Well, I didn't notice since we were in Russia, Japan and Australia all in one day, visiting places on that private jet." Pierre said, smiling, "Man, being a hero has its price _and_ its benefits."

"You tell me." Axel said, "I still can taste the Chow Mein and the Kishes I ate at those national banquets!"

Terra placed a palm on the bland wall. The wall emitted a bright glow: _Access Granted! _The computer voice said and the wall to the Security base open. The gang entered. They were greeted by Noah Tsubasa along with Lightning and the US Secret Service Trio Hawk, Eagle, Bird. Thunder was also at the base, chilling on a very comfy reclining chair at a comfy sitting area.

"Welcome everyone." Noah Tsubasa greeted the teens. He looked around, noticing something was missing, "Kami still didn't show?"

The teens shook their head. "I'm guessing she got all wierded out by the fact that you're working for us." Denzel said.

Noah sighed, "I guess so… well, no time to dwell on the past. The Gummi Ship is ready." Noah then faced Chip and Dale, "Right, guys?"

"Ready and totally upgraded!" Chip said, pushing a button that caused a large glass cylinder over at the base's corner to shift open. "Check it oooout!" Dale sang.

The Gummi Ship was revealed. It looked like a massive sophisticated Starship, tricked out with flashy wings, graffiti on its sides, the Chasers' Symbol at the nose of the ship, its body colored in crimson with sapphire trims. It was no longer a Gummi Ship.

"We had it ready for your voyage back to the Realm of Light." Noah said, "You spoke about it on your morning interview with Wendy Lee last Friday."

"Hmh! Wendy make such fine cakes!" Trayne remembered the interview, licking his lips.

"The ship comes with cosmic-powered blasters, a sun-powered shield, and an automatic feature for teleportation and speed charge." Noah said.

"It also includes a four-star lounge, thirteen bedroom suites, six baths, and a kitchen with a dining room that comes with its own chef, sous-chefs and butler… all robots of course." Chip said.

"Don't forget about the one billion dollar media-room installed to the ship, donated by the alliance of US Secret Service and NASA." Dale added, "Anything to make your adventure pleasant."

The teens couldn't take their eyes off the ship.

"DOES IT COME WITH A TRAINING CHAMBER?" Axel exclaimed.

"I thought you'd never ask." Eagle said before revealing an image of the training room. It looked like the Lobby of Mirage Arena. The teens breathed in awe.

"If you guys think this is cool. You should have seen what Land of Heroes looks like." Thunder spoke, catching everyone's attention. "Man, it's paradise!" he dreamt, "Wish we never left there."

"Land of Heroes?" Sierra blinked.

"We?" Violet said.

Thunder's eyes flew open, realizing what he just said. He quickly jumped off his recliner chair, "Uhh…"

"Dude, what are you talking about?" Axel asked Thunder. Thunder looked over to Terra who shook his head as a signal to keep his mouth shut.

"Err…" Thunder hesitated, "I meant… Land of Heroes? You know… in the uhh… in the game?"

Silence.

"You guys never visited that place in the game?" Thunder asked again, getting antsy.

"Ohhh!" the teens, except Axel, quickly got the message. Thunder and Terra breathed sighs of relief.

"Oh, Land of Heroes!" Jean-Michel exclaimed, "Yeah, we visited that place! I know what you're talking about! That place is like Treasure Island meets Hogwarts! It's large enough to find all treasure chests!"

"Land of Heroes?" Axel shook his head, "I never visited that place."

All eyes turned to Axel in shock.

"You _never _visited Land of Heroes?" Jean-Michel gasped, "Dude? Do you even PLAY the game?"

"You're like one of the best players and you never visited that place?" Violet was stunned, "Man, you need a lesson in worlds visit."

Axel simply shrugged.

"Speaking of world visiting," Terra said, "Don't we have some place to go to?"

"Right!" Thunder jumped off the recliner and joined the group, "Here's what we should do. We should travel the worlds in team." Thunder said to the Keybearers as he headed toward the Gummi Ship and stopped right in the middle underneath it, "By that I mean, we should split up, and make teams of three or four, depending on how many of us we are. It'll make it easier for us to clean up some messes and get rid of some Blackheart trash."

"I like the way you think." Axel replied.

"Wait… where are Donald and Goofy anyway?" Tandem asked, looking for the Disney characters, "They're not here to check out the ship?"

"Donald and Goofy won't be joining us for a while." Terra informed the group, "They had a behest to deal with."

"What kind of behest?" Axel asked.

"Why does it matter?" Terra firmly said, before facing Thunder, "Should we head out now?"

Thunder pulled out a remote control from his pocket, and just as he was about to push the button…

"You weren't planning on taking off were you?" Kami spoke, catching attention. She was with Taylor.

"Sorry I'm late." Taylor said to the group before she and Kami joined. Shortly Matt came in also. Taylor and Matt saw each other. There was some tension between the two.

Taylor tried to speak but didn't know what words to use so that it won't be awkward and won't make Matt as miserable as he was. Matt felt like he wanted to talk to Taylor but he rescinded, thinking that whatever he will say won't change how much Taylor hates him now. Both teens looked away from each other. The gang sensed the tension and stayed quiet.

"Where is Father?" Kami spoke, quickly changing the subject.

On cue, Noah approached his daughter, "Kami. You called?"

Kami faced her dad. Noah sighed, "Listen, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about—!"

"Tenshu is fine." Kami interrupted, "He's still resting. And you're forgiven."

Noah got taken by surprise, "…wait, that's it?" he said, "you forgive me like that?"

"Yeah! That's it!" Kami quickly said before facing Thunder, "Can we go now?"

Thunder was ready to push the remote control, but then he stopped when he was inches away, "By the way girl," he smirked at Kami, "thanks for opening the portal to the Realm of Light again for us! You still got it in you, except for that dual personality. What happened?"

"Grrr…"

"Okay, pushing." Thunder quickly went for the button on the remote and the entire team got teleported to the ship in flickering digital lights.

The Starship initiated its engines. The ceiling shifted and opened up to reveal the bright day sky. The Starship raised up from the ground, glided above the ceiling for a couple of seconds, and after that it took off into the sky in a lightyear speed. A Keyhole portal opened up far into the sky and swallowed the Starship. The heroes were gone, once again onto a new adventure.

**On the Next upcoming Chapters of KH3 Online HD  
**_(scenes subject to change in the episodes)_

"Your powers need polishing, young warrior." Yen Sid said to Rian, "You need proper training."

"Please, Master Yen Sid. I don't need training. My powers are totally fine." Rian threw a hand in dismissal, and a laser firework shot from it. The laser bounced at every corner of Yen Sid's study, shattering lightbulbs from his chamber and his desk lamp, almost striking Mickey, Pluto, Rian, and Yen Sid, burning books on shelves to crisp, and suddenly set Donald on fire, who just arrived at the scene with Goofy. He started screaming and running around, causing everyone to panic and Pluto to chase him. Mickey stepped in front of Donald, pointed at him and water stream shot from his finger, dousing the duck. There was an awkward silence when all eyes turned to a blackened duck, who glared back at Rian and coughed up a smoke.

"Maaybe I do need training." Rian grinned nervously.

* * *

**_-Next Chapter: _**_The Sorcerer's Newest Apprentice__**-**_


	20. Ep18: The Sorcerer's Newest Apprentice

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

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::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::  
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_**-**The Sorcerer's Newest Apprentice**-**_

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_**Mysterious Tower**

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The ghost train stopped at the Mysterious Tower from a couple of steps, disembarking Mickey and Rian. The ghost train took off.

"Good thing these ghost trains exist." Rian said, "They're quite convenient for the weary passenger. Where do you think the train heads off to in its usual route?"

"It can take you to so many places: towns, ports, towers, even schools." Mickey said, "One such school is a magical one called Akademia. You would love it there."

"Pssht! Please." Rian chuckled, "School, magical or not, are boring with a capital B. If I am compelled to learn one thing basic or advanced, I will fall fast asleep."

Mickey faced Rian, stunned by what he heard. Rian nodded on cue, "Yeah, no really! I can go night-night like that!" he snapped his fingers on cue to make a point.

Woof! Woof!

The duo saw Pluto coming toward them.

"Hey, it's my pal, Pluto!" Mickey said excitedly. Pluto jumped on Mickey and started slogging his face with his tongue. Mickey laughed, "Oh, stop it Pluto! Stop it, pal!"

"It really is Pluto! Wow!" Rian was amazed to see Mickey's trusty dog right in front of him.

"Pluto, let me introduce you to—!"

GRRRRR! ARF! ARF!

Pluto menacingly approached Rian. "Hey, whoa! Why the hate, man? What did I do?"

"Pluto! Easy! Don't rip his face off!" Mickey quickly grabbed Pluto by his collar, restraining him from jumping on Rian.

"Rip… my face… off?" Rian squealed.

"He thinks you're Thunder." Mickey replied.

"That explains the hate!"

ARF! ARF! GRRR…. ARF!

"Pluto. Easy, boy." Mickey finally calmed Pluto down, "This is not Thunder. This is Rian. His Earthy Twin. Please… behave."

Pluto warily glared at Rian. He slowly approached him, cornering Rian to a nearby tree. After a couple of whiffs, he jumped on Rian.

"KYAAA!"

"PLUTO!"

The screaming Rian suddenly started laughing, noticing that Pluto was not chewing on his face, but slogging it with its tongue of joy. Mickey sighed with relief.

"Pluto, please! Stop! You're tickling me!" Rian laughed out loud.

"Phew… at least Pluto noticed the difference." Mickey smiled.

Finally. Rian and Mickey entered the tower with Pluto. They crossed the entryway, passed through the wayward stairs, and reached the Moon Chamber, where they were surprised to see Yen Sid there.

"Whoa!" Rian jumped.

"Master Yen Sid." Mickey said.

"Mickey." Yen Sid greeted, "It is good to see you again. Safe and sound."

"Likewise, Master." Mickey greeted back, "And happy to see that your Tower is free from all enemies."

As Yen Sid and Mickey were catching up, Rian couldn't stop staring at Yen Sid with utter amazement. "I cannot believe I am actually seeing Yen Sid in front of me. In flesh… and in blood…!"

Yen Sid smiled at him, "You must be Thunder's Earthy twin, Rian Rivers, Keyblade Bearer of Lightning."

"And you are surely Master Yen Sid, Mickey's Master in the Magic and Keyblade Arts! Aw, man! What an HONOR!" The excited Rian rushed to Yen Sid and violently shook his hand.

"You… are… definitely… not… like your… twin…" Yen Sid stuttered.

Rian quickly let go of Yen Sid, "Oh, dude! My bad, sir. Where are my manners? Hope I didn't throw them in the trashcan! Ha-ha! Get it? My manners… in the trashcan…! Ha!"

Yen Sid and Mickey glanced at each other then back at Rian, silent. Rian noticed they weren't laughing and quickly stopped laughing.

Yen Sid pointed his finger on the ground and drew a sigil surrounding Mickey, Rian, Pluto and himself. The sigil glowed and the gang vanished, teleporting back to Yen Sid's Loft.

"I am glad that you two came to the tower without any trouble. Care for some tea? They're spicy." Yen Sid snapped a finger, and teacups and a thermos flew besides the three guests. The thermos magically poured some tea onto the teacups to Rian's surprise.

"Well… Master Yen Sid" Mickey began, taking his cup full of tea. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

His statement peeked on the master's interest. "See, before we came here, a floating image came to Rian. I was able to see the image too, but the image Rian saw, was projecting from his eyes."

Rian nodded, "Yeah, and I had this really… sharp headache…" Rian slowed down on his words, his attention still on the flying tea dishes. The teacup full of tea hovered toward him, waiting to be picked up. He quickly shook his head back to reality, "I mean…" He quickly picked the teacup, "I thought I was gonna die. Yeah. It was scary! What does this all mean?"

"Mm…" Yen Sid rubbed his beard in deep thought. He looked away from his guests, still deep in thought, "…just as I was expecting."

Mickey and Rian glanced at each other.

"That image…" Yen Sid began, "… it was a glimpse of what was currently happening, from across distance… and across worlds. You could say it was a foresight."

"A faux what?" Rian asked.

"A vision." Mickey clarified, and Yen Sid nodded.

"Whoa, whoa, wait! What does that mean, a vision? Am I getting visions?" Rian exclaimed, "Like that psychic girl Raven?"

"You could say that." Yen Sid said, "But your case is different. Rian… you are gaining a very special ability. The ability of Presight."

"Presight?"

"Presight let you witness current happenings from across distances and dimensions. You are now able to see what is happening right now, at a specific place…"

"…even when I'm not there?" Rian exclaimed, "…whoa…"

"There are three Keyblade Wielders' special powers unique and rare to this world, and only the strongest of these wielders can earn it: Pastsight, Presight, and Foresight. Pastsight lets you see past events, though the person has no control of the past he or she sees; Presight lets you see current events, which you may or may not be able to change it depending on the situation; and Foresight lets you see the future, which of course you can mostly change it depending on the situation. You twin Thunder has that same ability as you. And your friend Keyblade Wielder of Fire, Talen, has the Foresight ability—!"

Rian spewed the drink all over Yen Sid's table till his jaws dropped.

"Wait, whoa! Back up now. TALEN?" he yelped, "Talen can see the FUTURE?"

"Apparently." Mickey confirmed, cringing at the mess Rian just made. Rian grinned nervously. Yen Sid snapped his finger again and the mess was no more.

"He had gained the ability not long ago." Mickey went on, "It won't be a matter of time till another Keybearer friend yours gains the last ability Presight. I can predict either the Keybearer of Ice, or the Keybearer of Stealth."

"Talen seeing the future has changed everything." Yen Sid said, "If it wasn't for his ability, you wouldn't be standing here by now. You would've been erased."

It was when Yen Sid said that, that Rian reminisced the night at the Homecoming. He could remember his friends who were trapped by Phantamis' binding spell, screaming in panic and trying their best to break free of the spell to save Rian, but alas, they felt forced to watch him disintegrate.

_"RIAN, NO!" Taylor was screaming amongst the panicked friends_.

_ Rian gave up on cry of help, as he was losing his breath. He then noticed Talen who suddenly had that strong urge that he GOTTA to do something… FAST!_

_"NO!" Talen cried out, putting all of his force on the magic that bounded him until he finally broke it and took a mad dash. "Talen!" Sierra shouted. _

_"I won't let you get away with this!" Talen jumped into the beam in front of Rian and everyone screamed, "NOO!"_

_The beam struck Talen and Talen immediately transformed into his Keybearer. But then the power impact caused a massive explosion of light that raided the entire gym…_

…and before Rian knew it, he saw nothing. Nothing, but darkness, and void.

He gulped, "I can't believe this. Talen… he… died for me…"

Mickey and Yen Sid noticed Rian's solemn look. Rian quickly corrected himself, remembering his last vision: Talen didn't die, but was trapped.

"I… I mean, he… _almost _died for me. And he's trapped at that Dominion Place!" he then faced Yen Sid, "Master Yen Sid, please! You gotta let me avenge my friend! I mean, rescue him! Gaah, what am I saying? I can't stay here!"

Rian took off in a mad dash. Yen Sid waved his arm clockwise, and Rian stopped. The door that was right in front of him had vanished and he was now facing a wall, "What the—!"

"You can't go outside either." Yen Sid said, "You're not ready yet."

"Yes. And Thunder has taken your place too. So you cannot expose the secret of the Keyblade Riders." Mickey added.

"Then, what am I supposed to do in the meantime?" Rian exclaimed, "Have more tea with you two and talk about our feelings? By the way, that tea was SUPER spicy!"

Yen Sid scoffed, "No… but thanks for reminding me. I shall put that on my To-do list." He snapped his fingers and a flying parchment paper and feather pen appeared to him, magically scribbling the task down. Pluto curiously approached it to stare at it and whiff it.

"But we need to focus on your magic, your Presight, and your ability to use the Keyblade." Yen Sid kept talking.

The To-do list and pen suddenly vanished, scaring Pluto. Pluto jumped behind Rian.

"Uh… Why?" Rian asked Yen Sid, eyebrow raised.

"So that you can be ready for the final battle." Mickey said.

"And based on your past experience, your powers need polishing, young warrior." Yen Sid said, "You need proper training."

Rian smirked, "Please, Master Yen Sid. I don't need training. My powers are totally fine." He threw a hand in dismissal, and a laser firework shot from it. The laser bounced at every corner of Yen Sid's loft, shattering lightbulbs from the ceiling and his desk lamp, almost striking Mickey, Pluto, Rian, and Yen Sid, burning books on shelves to crisp, and suddenly set Donald on fire, who just arrived at the scene with Goofy. He started screaming and running around, causing everyone to panic and Pluto to chase him. Mickey stepped in front of Donald, pointed at him and water stream shot from his finger, dousing the duck. There was an awkward silence when all eyes turned to a blackened duck, who glared back at Rian and coughed up a smoke. Then everyone turned their attention to Rian.

"Maaybe I do need training." Rian grinned nervously.

"Ya think?" Donald mumbled, almost sounding like Miley Stewart.

Rian beamed at his two friends, "DONALD! GOOFY!" he exclaimed, "So good to see you all!"

Goofy gleefully waved at his friend, while Donald muttered, "The feeling's mutual," with a huffed tone.

"So, shall we get started?" Yen Sid said, "On your first assignment?"

**-Wardrobe-**

The gang were in the Wardrobe, the large room next to Yen Sid's Loft.

"You want me to clean this place up?" Rian exclaimed at the sight of the Sorcerer's study chamber.

The whole place was a mess. There were books, papers, and journals—scribbled and blanks—lying around, used snacks, and drinks left on tables and desks, and stains all around. What was striking about the room was the dozen of brooms and mops sitting at the corners, waiting to be used to clean up the place.

"This place's a dump!" Rian exclaimed. He then quickly added upon meeting Yen Sid's gaze, "and by dump, I mean cool. Like when someone says 'This is sick' or 'This is bad' it actually means this is uh, y'know… cool, you know… what I'm… okay."

"Your first assignment is to clean this place up." Yen Sid revealed, to Rian's shock and disgust, "I've provided brooms to sweep, mops to mop, dusters to dust, and some soaps and water on buckets. But you're not gonna use them all. Instead, you're gonna use magic."

Rian's jaws dropped, "You—! You want me to clean this place up? By using magic?"

Yen Sid nodded.

"I barely know how to cast Fire!" Rian yelped.

"Then we get to see your talents!" Donald smiled, almost evilly, while Goofy chuckled.

"Good luck, young apprentice." Yen Sid said.

"Uh, thanks. But what should I—!"

Yen Sid and the gang were gone. Rian was all alone. "What? Wh—? HEEEY! I HAD A QUESTION!"

Rian looked again at the messy wardrobe. "Sheesh, how is this gonna work? I don't know much spells…" he wondered.

He then looked at his Keyblade and its Command Cards inside the key's bow, "Hey, maybe I can use some Command spells to—!"

"Oh, did I forget to tell you, Rian." Yen Sid was heard inside the wardrobe, "No Keyblade or Command spells."

"WHHHAAAAAAAT?" Rian's face went pale. He shouted to the air, "ARE YOU CRAZZY? That's my only source of magic!"

"Your only source of magic must come from within! Command spells are just training wheels until you master them."

"I didn't even master ONE! Awwgh…" Rian suddenly felt sick in the stomach and reluctantly made his Keyblade vanish. He had to clean up all this mess in the wardrobe with just magic, and he can't even use the only magic he got from his Command spells deck and Keyblade. What crazy training was that?

He looked over at a broom, then a mop, then a sponge and bucket of water sitting firmly at the corner.

"Okay… what should I do?" he thought out loud, "Should I start with the broom? Brooms sweep. Nah, maybe I should clean that window with the sponge and water. It looks dirty… crud." He then glanced over the pile of books by a table, "…maybe arranging some books."

"Don't dawdle there, young apprentice." Yen Sid was heard again, "Cast a spell already."

"All right, all right! Don't rush me." Rian whined. He approached the pile of books and swung his arm on it.

PRATACK!

AAAAOWWW!

The books fell off the table, at the cost of Rian hurting his hand badly. Rian hopped on one foot, shaking his hand in pain, not realizing another shot of his magic flew off from his finger. The magic ricocheted off the floor then the top corner of the ceiling then struck a mop behind him.

The mop slowly stood up. Animated, the mop looked around and watched Rian still hopping and yelling in pain. The mop looked over at the bucket of water and hopped over to it. The bucket of water suddenly came alive on contact of the mop and dragged the mop across the wardrobe.

Rian with a tear over his eyes finally subdued his pain and looked behind him. He saw nothing. "Man, never do that again." He sniffled, unaware that the mop and bucket of water were sliding across the wardrobe.

The mop and water bucket came on contact with a broom, and the broom came alive. The mop pulled its head out of the water bucket and started moping one side of the room while the broom that just came alive began sweeping another side of the room.

The broom came on contact with a set of brooms and all the brooms started sweeping. Some brooms came on contact with dusters. Dusters came on contact with towels, towels with sponges and soaps, even the sponges came on contact with the leftover snacks, debris, and books and such left on the table.

Almost all the cleaning objects were performing their chores while humming in tune to 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice': the snacks and debris toss themselves away, the books arranged themselves, the brooms were sweeping every corner of the wardrobe, the mops were mopping floors clean, the windows were washed by the sponges and water, the water buckets were filling up with water all the way to the top… the whole wardrobe got animated. And Rian still had no idea there was a clean-up party right behind him.

"How can a teenage boy like me clean this whole place up with just—WHOOAA!" He slipped and fell on a wet floor. He finally snapped out of his thought and saw the working crew going at it. His jaws dropped.

"HEEIN?" He quickly stood up, "But…but how—? How did I DO that?"

The objects were still performing their chores. Rian beamed, "HEY, that's AWESOME! I did it! Without even knowing it!" he then yelled out in the air, "HEY, Yen Sid! I did it! I'm cleaning the place up! By magic!"

"No you're not!" Yen Sid was heard.

"What do you mean I'm not?"

"You animated your objects to perform your deeds. Now you must control their every move!"

"Oh, that's easy!" Rian cracked his knuckles and turned to a mop who was doing its chore. He directed the mop to go clean out another corner of the room and it did. He then directed a sponge and soap to wash another dirty window.

"HA-HA! I did it! I'm doing it!" Rian laughed. He moved his fingers in rhythm of the entire clean-up crew doing their chores. "Okay, time to clean up! Water buckets, that's enough water!"

The water buckets were filling up water. But instead of stopping to the top, the water kept overflowing.

"Okay, water buckets, that's enough water now!"

The buckets weren't listening. Their waters kept overflowing. Rian shot a magic spell at the buckets and the buckets richocheted the spell. The spell bounced across the wardrobe everywhere and struck a couple of mops and brooms. The clean-up crew quickly got out of control, working nonstop.

"I thought I said that's enough!" Rian ran to a water bucket and grabbed its handle, "That's enough man! Stop! Please!"

The water bucket got angry and ducked about a flood of water on Rian. Quickly the wardrobe got flooded with water. But that didn't stop the clean-up crew from continuing their chores like workaholics.

"GUYS! STOP! I COMMAND Y'ALL TO STOP!" Rian quickly grabbed a mop and started tugging on it, "Hey, you! Tell your friends to stop that mess up!"

The mop slapped Rian across the face, forcing him to let go. Rian fell on the body of water that quickly reached the volume of a pool.

"HAAAH! HEEELP! GUYS, STOP PLEASE! HEEEEELLLLP!"

Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Yen Sid were watching from the Loft on a big screen HDTV. Donald and Goofy had 3D glasses and were eating popcorn.

"Master Yen Sid! We gotta stop this! Can we stop this?" Mickey asked, concern.

"Why should we? This is better than 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'" Donald exclaimed, chewing on some popcorn.

Mickey glowered at Donald, knowing that he was talking about him.

"…except that experience was not funny…" Donald changed tune.

"All right that's it!" Rian exclaimed before summoning his Keyblade. "Time for some drastic measures." He pointed his Keyblade in the air, "Thundara!"

"NOOO!" everyone except Yen Sid yelled.

A surge of Thundara escaped the blade's tip and entered the water. The water conducted the spell and electrocuted Rian and the objects.

BBBZZZZZTTT!

KYYYYAAAAAAAAAA!

The animated objects suddenly worked twice as fast in response to the electrocution, but Rian was unresponsive.

"All right, it's official." Yen Sid said before pointing a finger to the HDTV. A magical sigil drew on the wardrobe floor and suddenly absorbed all the water out. The animated cleaning crew stopped moving again and the entire wardrobe got overwhelmed by a powerful radiant light. The light vanished, leaving the wardrobe spotlessly clean.

"Ughh…" Rian groaned.

Yen Sid, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pluto teleported back in the wardrobe. Donald and Goofy helped Rian on his feet.

"Gawrsh, you're okay Rian?" Goofy asked.

"You took quite a hit." Mickey said.

"A big hit." Donald joked.

"A big hit of failure." Yen Sid said. "You still got much more to learn young apprentice."

"Much more to learn?" Rian groaned angrily, "You know what I just learned? I hate this training. And I hate staying here! Y'know what, I'm done." He left the wardrobe, shoulders slumped. Mickey and the gang looked worried.

**xXx**

Donald and Goofy found Rian at the tower's balcony, watching the night sky.

"Hey, there you are." Donald said to him, "King Mickey was looking all over for you."

"Uhh… Donald. You mean _we _were looking all over for him." Goofy corrected him.

"Goofy. Not now." Donald grumbled, "I don't wanna look like a sensitive duck here!"

Rian sighed, shifting Donald and Goofy's attention.

"You're still bummed out about that training huh?" Donald asked.

"Master Yen Sid was right." Rian sighed, "I'm a failure."

"What? You're not a failure!" Goofy exclaimed.

"Of course not!" Donald exclaimed. "It's just training. You'll be fine."

"Fine? What's the point of being fine?" Rian mumbled, "If I can't control a bunch of mops and brooms to clean up a room, how am I supposed to save the world? I mean, what's this stupid cleaning-up-using-magic got to do with the fate of the world?"

"Perhaps I can answer that." Mickey joined in the conversation. "Long ago, Yen Sid trained me in magic and Keyblade. I had that same doubt as you, Rian."

"Really?" Rian asked.

Mickey nodded, "But then I eventually learned the true purpose behind my trainings. As you should. You saw the mops and brooms moving right? Now imagine you facing a group of heartless in that same fashion? What would you do?"

Rian shrugged, "Easy. I use my Keyblade."

"Okay." Yen Sid who finally joined in, responded to Rian's answer. He then added, "But imagine you facing that same group of heartless, but you can't use your Keyblade. Your Keyblade powers get sealed."

That statement struck Rian. He hesitated, "Uhh…"

"Rian. You are about to face a very difficult adversary. They have powers very similar to yours, for they were also Keyblade Masters. But their powers were corrupted by the darkness, and are bound to be twice as powerful as you and your friends. Plus, they have a nasty spell that disables your Keyblade magic."

"If you can't use your Keyblade, then you won't be able to fight your enemies at all." Mickey added.

"Take that example from Sora." Donald said, reminiscing the day Sora lost his Keyblade back at Hollow Bastion.

Rian nodded, taking all that advice to consideration, "Okay. Got that part." He said, "But… if the mops and brooms are like, representation of my enemies, the heartless… then, how come I have to control these mops and brooms… err… the heartless? They're our enemies. Are we not allowed to control them?"

"That training sometimes got to do with what I've told you. But it sometimes got to do with something else." Yen Sid said with a smile.

Rian cocked his head on one side, "Are you speaking in riddles?"

"He means that you'll find out the true purpose of this training soon enough." Mickey said.

"One thing you have to keep in mind, Rian," Yen Sid said, "You're not a failure. You're just a young apprentice, with a great potential waiting to be unleashed from within you. You just need more time to exert your powers to its fullest."

"Okay…" Rian suddenly stopped talking and stared into space. The gang looked bleakly at Rian then tried to find out what he was staring at.

"…uhh, am I missing something?"

Rian's eyes suddenly turned white, frightening everyone. Goofy jumped on Donald's arms and Pluto hid behind Mickey, quivering.

"Another vision." Yen Sid declared.

An image suddenly projected out of Rian's eyes, freaking everyone out. This time the image was showing Keyblade Graveyard, captivated by various eerie cries of help.

Rian's eyes returned to normal and the image vanished. Rian looked tensed.

"What was that?" Donald exclaimed.

"A cry of help…" Rian wondered, before facing Yen Sid, "Master Yen Sid. Love to stay, but this can't wait."

Rian took off running out of the balcony, and the gang followed. They zoomed across the loft, crossed through the Moon Chamber via the wayward stairs, reached the entryway, and busted out of the tower.

"RIAN! Where are you go—what's going—? HEYY!" Mickey exclaimed, noticing Rian had a Star Shard on hand.

Rian raised the star shard to the air. Mickey, Donald and Goofy panicked, "RIAAN!"

"I'm sorry guys! But I'll be back! Promise!" The star shard glowed and Rian vanished into a shooting star that took off into the air.

"A Star Shard?" Mickey, Donald, and Goofy yelled before facing Yen Sid, "Why does he have a Star Shard?"

"I gave one to him." Yen Sid revealed.

"WHAAAAT?"

Yen Sid smiled, "Rian may be different than Thunder, but he still has that stubbornness in him. I knew that he'll bail someday from this tower, so why should we keep him here like a prisoner."

"BUT HE'S NOT IN PRISON!" Donald exclaimed, "but he's gonna be when he GETS BACK!"

"Donald." Mickey faced the duck, "He means we have to trust Rian in doing the right thing."

"But… he's gonna blow the Keyblade Riders' secret!" Goofy said.

"How do you know that?" Yen Sid asked Goofy, but then hesitated.

"Rian is not like any other people you've met. He's a hero at heart. And that vision he just had has nothing to do with the secret." Yen Sid went on, "He just felt compelled to help someone who desperately needed help. Someone who could soon be his new ally or future enemy. That is the heart of a true Keyblade Rider. Now go, my fellow guardians of the light. Find Rian and the others. The quest for salvation is not over."

"Thanks, Master Yen Sid." Mickey smiled at him, before facing Donald and Goofy, "Come on everybody!"

The trio took off.

**On the Next upcoming Chapters of KH3 Online HD  
**_(scenes subject to change in the episodes)_

Beast was watching Thunder, Taylor and Matt with wrathful rage filling up his eyes.

_The traitors… _he growled.

xXx

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! You're breaking up?" Thunder exclaimed, "You two can't break up!"

xXx

"Okay, is there's something that you're not telling me?" The angry princess Belle asked, hands on her hips.

"Maybe there is something that you're not telling _me_, princess." Thunder smiled at Belle, raising his eyebrow flirtatiously.

"Aw, come on!" Taylor and Donald hollered in disgust, and Belle looked on flabbergasted.

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Next Chapter**:: _Beauty and the Beast's Anniversary_


	21. Ep19: Beauty and the Beast's Anniversary

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

**Author's Note:** Did anyone watched "Make it or Break it" last night? If not, then you missed your chance to see the Birth by Sleep commercial, as the show was sponsored by that game. Either way, I'm just so excited for its release. Only 6 more days and counting. And also to celebrate, a new KH fanfic: Keyblade Riders will be published. Look for it very soon.

Now, this episode is going to be the longest one I've written. So get ready for the beauties and the craziness :D**  
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::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::  
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_**-**Beauty and the Beast's Anniversary**-**_

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**Beast's Castle**

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It was an early night at Beast's Castle Courtyard. But everything was quiet; so quiet that even the crickets were sleeping…

…but that moment of silence quickly shattered when a Keyhole Portal came out of the blue, and out came Thunder in his stylish Keyblade Knight armor. His armor disappeared, reverting him back to his regular form.

He looked over the portal and shouted, "Yo! C'mon! We don't have all day!" he then noticed the night sky and corrected, "…or all night! The Portal needs energy y'know!"

Taylor came out of the Portal. She appeared reluctant and quite disturbed. She let out a heavy abrupt sigh.

Then Matt came out of the Portal, following Taylor. He too also appeared disturbed. Heck, Matt was more edgy than Taylor. The Portal vanished by Thunder's finger snap.

"Okay. So this is it: Beast's Castle." Thunder said, staring at the grand castle. Taylor and Matt saw the castle also in awe.

"It _is _quite beautiful." Matt commented.

"…yeah. Nothing ever seen… or heard." Taylor said, almost bitterly, "…at least its walls _have_ no secrets."

She walked up front, leaving Matt and Thunder behind. Matt glowered at Thunder and shook his head, almost rolling his eyes. He then followed.

Thunder sighed, "Relationships… can't control 'em."

He followed the two teens. The trio was heading inside the Castle, unaware that Beast was watching them with wrathful rage filling up his eyes. _The traitors…_

"Indeed they are." A shady voice was heard lingering behind Beast's ears, "They are obviously not welcome here. If I were you…"

"…I shall eliminate them…" Beast breathed.

"Good… and well-said…"

xXx

"Are the others coming?" Matt reluctantly asked.

"You know no one's comin', Matt." Taylor reminded him, "It's just you, me, and Rian, remember? Unless you want another reminder from your Dominion friends..."

"Oh boy." Thunder whispered, already guessing this conversation would take an ugly turn. "Um, guys. Maybe we should think about our mission for a second here. Like..." He quickly pulled out an opened envelope from his pocket and uncovered a letter addressed from Belle and Beast. He showed the letter, "... Like this letter, right there. I mean doesn't it spell suspicion?"

"You wanna know suspicion?" Matt said bitterly to Thunder before glaring back at Taylor, "She's right in front of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Taylor defensively asked.

"What's that? You think I wasn't suspicious when I saw you crushing on Rian for the past two years?" Matt revealed, "The crush was so much that you had to be friend with him and see if he felt the same way about you, but eventually he didn't see that and you ended up hooking up with me instead; because I was a loner and you wanted to make him jealous! Friends for benefits?"

Thunder, flabbergasted, looked back at a fuming Taylor. "Whoa..."

"Oh! And it gets better, Ri! She used me to go to that homecoming dance last year! Did I forgive her? Forgiven and forgotten. But when I joined a league of evil, from a VIDEO GAME, a long time ago for only a short period of time, I get treated like a leper!"

"AT LEAST THE LEPER GOT NOTHING TO HIDE!" Taylor screamed, "And for your information, Rian had a date at that Homecoming! And what gives you the right to swoop into my diary?"

"So it WAS in your diary!"

GASP! Taylor put her hands over her mouth.

"Guys, does it matter who came onto whom?" Thunder tried to douse the heat between the couple, but the heat was just getting started. "At least we're together!"

"Oh-OHH!" Matt sarcastically laughed, "I don't think so!"

"Oh-OHH!" Taylor exclaimed, "Is that what you want? Well then perhaps we should break up!"

Thunder panicked but Matt gladly agreed, "Then perhaps we should."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! You're breaking up?" Thunder exclaimed, "You two CAN'T break up!" he then desperately turned to Matt, "If you break up, then my crush for her is gonna come back!"

Matt and Taylor glared back at Thunder.

"Did I say my crush?" he stammered, "I meant my love for her. I mean... My... D'oh!"

Taylor faced Matt again, "You know what?" she said strongly, "I'm SO glad that Rian released his true feelings for me off his chest, because now I can do this without ANY regrets!"

On cue she grabbed Thunder by the colon and pulled him into a juicy passionate kiss that almost lasted 10 seconds. An appalled Matt watched. She finally released Thunder, glanced back at Matt with her chin-up and proudly walked away, leaving the boys in shock.

Matt glared back at Thunder. Thunder suddenly got nervous, "I swear I didn't do anything. P-Please don't hurt me."

"Hmph." Matt angrily walked away. Thunder quickly followed, "Okay, maybe you can hit me a little."

xXx

Thunder found Taylor by the stairs leading to the Castle's West Wing. He quickly joined her.

"Hey, where's Cross... I mean, Matt?" he asked.

"Why should I care?" Taylor solemnly said before wiping a tear off. Thunder noticed Taylor has been crying and he suddenly got tensed. He was never good at comforting the sad people. He would usually cheer them up by either telling a mean joke or a pointless request like making the sad person to fix a snack for him. And then after that he won't stop with the jokes and the teasing.

"Hey!" Thunder suddenly put on this cocky flirtatious smile, Joey Tribbiani-style, "How _you_ doin'?"

Taylor turned to glare at him.

"Hey, I gotta great joke for ya: why is Eight afraid of Seven?" Thunder grinned.

Taylor continued to glare.

"Cuz Seven ATE Nine! HA! Get it?" Thunder quickly changed subject, "Ooh, wait! I got 'nother good one!"

Taylor started walking away but Thunder kept going, "What is a pig who knows Karate? Porkchop! HA! Hey, speaking of porkchop…" Thunder happily rubbed his stomach and licked his lips.

"Rian. I'm not in the mood."

"C'mon, girl! Just because you ain't together with grumpy Matt up there doesn't mean you can't still move on and hook up… If you know what I mean. Growl." Thunder let out a low teasing growl.

"Ughh… What's wrong with you? What happened to the sensitive side of you I used to like about?"

"Ooh, Feisty! So you _do _like me?" Thunder asked.

"Not anymore."

"Great! No wait. Not great. Anyway, we got an anniversary to crash in style and—!"

CRAAASH!

"WHOAA!" Thunder and Taylor screamed, startled at the sight of Beast standing right in front of them.

"Looks like someone already did that... Prince Adam?" Thunder called the Beast, surprised to see him in his physical form.

"Hey, it's Beast!" Taylor said, but then faced Thunder with a bewildered look, "…wait, you know him?"

"How dare you come in to this castle after what you did to me!" Beast pointed an accusing finger on the duo.

"What we did? But what _did_ we do—? KYAAA!" Taylor screamed, as Beast surprisingly attacked them with a mad dash.

Thunder quickly covered for Taylor in front and casted a Reflect spell, blocking Beast's attack. But Beast kept charging on the shield.

"Whoa man! Calm down! What are you doing?" Thunder exclaimed.

Beast flinched through the Reflect spell, prompting Thunder to swing his Keyblade at him in a counter move. But Beast quickly recovered, grabbed Thunder by the neck and rammed him to a wall.

"RIAN!" Taylor screamed.

Beast clutched Thunder by the throat, "Claiming what you made me lose… I want my revenge back! REEVEEENGE!"

"Re… revenge…" Thunder chocked.

"Hey!" Taylor called Beast out. She had transformed into Soledad and pointed her Keyblade at him, "Leave him alone, or else!"

"OR ELSE WHAT? You gonna take his place instead?" Beast barked, "Like I haven't heard that BEFORE!"

A distant cry was heard, catching all their attentions. Thunder, Soledad and Beast looked up to a small skylight—the direction of the scream to catch a glimpse of a star blinking from above, giving that ominous sense that something was coming toward them.

Then suddenly a meteorite, shaped like a duck, crashed through the skylight and landed on the party in a massive explosion.

The smoke cleared up and Beast was found unconscious, and had released Thunder.

"Rian… cough, cough… you're… cough, cough… okay…" Taylor coughed.

"I… cough, cough… I guess so…" Thunder coughed, "…but… cough… what was that?"

The teens found a charred duck on top of the unconscious Beast. The duck shook his head and body to get rid of the dusts off his feathers, revealing his face.

"Donald!" Taylor and Thunder gasped.

"Uh… I will never… ever… going to use King Mickey's Star Shard again…" Donald groaned.

GRAWWWWL!

Quuuaaaaack!

Beast took a swing at Donald. Donald dodged the blow. The gang immediately noticed a red Berserk aura surrounding Beast and his eyes screaming for bloody murder.

"RUUUUN!" Taylor screamed and the gang took off running with Beast at their tails.

They swung past a corner, dashed right through the hallways, jumped off stairs and, finally after losing Beast they crashed through the first room they could find.

"Phew..." Thunder exhaled, "That was pretty close..."

"Hello."

AAAAAAHHHHH!

The heroes saw in front of them inanimate objects talking. There was a Big Ben-like miniature clock (Cogsworth), a candelabra (Lumière), a teapot and a teacup (Mrs. Potts and Chip).

Thunder recognized them all, "Guys? Is that YOU?"

"Well if it isn't Th—!"

"Tragic!" Donald interrupted, changing subjects while at the same time covering Thunder's true identity, "What the feathers happened?"

"What do you _think _happened to us?" Cogsworth complained, "We were cursed… AGAIN!"

"By that enchantress again?" Taylor asked.

"No, by a man with darkness in his heart!" Cogsworth exclaimed.

The heroes looked at each other, already guessing who that man was, "Blackheart." They said.

"Speaking of that, he should've really lightened up." Lumiere said jokingly, "His heart was so dark, you'd need brighter candelabra like me to shine him on!" he laughed. So did Thunder, "Good one!"

"That's not funny." Taylor commented.

"If you're a Blackheart, sure." Thunder countered.

"No, seriously! This isn't funny!" Cogsworth added, "This man stole the one thing that our dear Prince worked so hard to earn! His love!"

"The Blackheart stole Belle?" Donald exclaimed.

"No. His Love Essence." Added Mrs. Potts, who was with her son Chip and the rest of the group. "When Beast finally learned how to love, he developed an essence unique for it. Now that this dark man stole it from him, he's back to the way he was before: bitter, selfish and uncaring, but worse… he's turning into a dangerous menace."

"Which explains why he attacked us." Thunder added.

"Is there any way to reverse it?" Taylor asked.

"Of course there should!" Donald rudely responded, "We steal it back from these Blackheart thieves!"

"But it's not going to be easy." Cogsworth added, before showing the heroes another enchanted flower under a glass. This time the rose was a black tulip. "We only have till the last fallen tulip petal for the spell to be reversed, or else it'll become permanent… and the Prince will remain a Beast, and will hate everything he adored, forever."

"Even worse, he'll hate the love of his life Belle." Lumiere sighed gloomily. His news alarmed the heroes.

"Jeez. What a fun way to spend your anniversary with your loved one:" Thunder mumbled, "doomed to be a hater forever."

All eyes glared at Thunder. He shrugged, "What? It's true!"

xXx

Matt was seen walking down the East Wing grand hallways, tapping on his PSP Device. He placed a call from the US Secret Service.

"Hawk." he called, "Can you hear me now? Good. Any chance you can bring the Gummi Ship back to me? I'm at Beast's Castle... yeah, you know where I am!"

Matt heard a distant weeping a little far down the hall. He found a young woman there: brown hair, beautiful, but scantily-dressed with a silk red foot-length robe that exposed most of her left leg.

Matt, already attracted to the young lady, approached her, "Hey…" he asked with a gentle voice, "What's up? Why are you crying?"

The young woman wiped her tears before looking up bashfully at Matt. Her piercing blue eyes were captivating enough to charm him.

"Oh… sniff… h-hi…" she quivered.

"Are you okay? You look like a mess." He said.

"Oh, I am a mess all right!" she cried anew, "My boyfriend doesn't love me anymore!"

"Your boyfriend?" Matt said, "You guys broke up?"

She nodded.

Matt sighed, sympathizing as he just had _his_ breakup, "I know the feeling." He said, "At least you got out of this mess before it even started."

"But I love him!" she cried again. Matt realized he's not helping the situation, "Okay, let's try this again: what happened? Why did you guys break up?"

The girl sniffled, "well… I'm not comfortable sharing my broken heart to a stranger, but in this case, I don't care. I'll tell you everything: I was once his maid, in this very castle. And then we had a fling and that's it! He told me he loves me!"

"Wait, whoa! You were his maid? Here in this castle?" Matt exclaimed, "Wait a sec. Is he—?"

"Yes it's true. The love of my life was Adam." The girl revealed, "He's now what you call… the Beast!"

Matt looked horrified.

xXx

"We can't let this curse be permanent!" Cogsworth said to the heroes and his fellow colleagues, "Belle is coming to the castle tonight to spend her anniversary with her Prince, and the last thing she wants is to see him back in his Beast form and twice as enraged as before!"

"We should move guys!" Taylor exclaimed, "We got an Essence to find!"

"Right!" Donald said.

"Okey-Dokey!" Thunder said, "Hey, by the way, what does Beast's Love Essence look like?"

The gang looked at each other and then back at Thunder. "I mean it's gotta look like a person, y'know, like a hot girl or a…"

Everyone left the room. "Ohh, okay." Thunder said dismissively.

The gang was at the castle's main hall when Cogsworth said, "We should split here: with Belle coming anytime soon, somebody has to be the lookout. We should be the lookout. You guys do the scavenging."

The heroes split.

xXx

Matt and the girl were talking briefly. Matt got to listen to the girl and her relationship problem while at the same time got to share _his _own wounded relationship.

"So if I understand it, you got a message from Beast to leave the castle on vacation leave, when really, he was kicking you out?"

"It was his own nice way of firing me." The girl said, "I don't even know what I did wrong! I was an excellent maid! Made sure the smallest dust was no more!"

"Cruel." Matt replied, "And before you knew it, you heard about Belle getting to the Castle uninvited, and were supposed to be his prisoner…"

"But no, he learned to love _her _instead." The girl bitterly said then sighed, "At least I heard nice things about that Belle girl. Unlike _your _girl who has no forgiveness in her heart!"

"Psht!" Matt rolled his eyes, scoffing, "Yeah, tell me something I don't know already."

"And really, how manipulative of her to use you so that she can get her best friend, or crush, jealous? That must've hurt!"

"Well, I tried to be a prince about it and forget, until she learned about _my_ secret and changed her attitude towards me."

"You know what? How about we make a pact: I swear off men completely, and _you _swear off girls _and _your friends completely. People like that are poisons to hang out with. You have to move on!"

"You're right!" Matt said vehemently, "I don't need them. I need to move on! If these people don't want me in the league, then it's their loss."

Matt pulled out his PSP again and called. "Hawk? Forget the ride. I'll take the rest of my life from here." He turned his PSP off and faced the girl again. "Hey, thanks for the advice, err…" he hesitated, realizing he didn't get her name.

"Betsa." The girl said, as if reading his mind.

"Right. And I'm Matt." He said, "Anyway, you take care now!" he took off.

"I will! Thank you." Betsa said with a smile, "Finally, someone who understands me."

xXx

Thunder, Taylor and Donald were walking down a grand hallway, when Thunder said to Taylor, "So, you and Matt are over now?"

Donald looked surprised, "Over? What happened? What did I miss?"

"Nothing!" Taylor exclaimed, "Nothing that concerns you two."

"Come on, girl. He made a mistake, big whoop!" Thunder said before facing Donald, "She's mad because she found out about Matt and the Dominion."

"Ohh, the ultimate betrayal." Donald said understandably.

"Weren't YOU set on exacting vengeance on him too when YOU found out?" Taylor countered.

"I was." Thunder admitted, "But then he saved my life, _remember_?"

"Yeah, and Sora thought he made a mistake too," Donald said, "and we thought we couldn't forgive him, but we did. Forgiveness is the heart of true friendship."

Taylor shook her head, "You know what: keep feeding me your philosophies or your mumbo-gumbo Confucius stuffs. He and I are over and done! There's nothing you can do that can change that. We should focus on finding Beast's Love Essence and save at least ONE couple from Blackheart disaster! That's all that matters now! Let's go!"

Taylor stomped forward.

"Oh well, at least we've tried." Thunder said before he was about to add something; but Donald stopped him, "DON'T even think about it. She's still in a relationship."

Donald took off. Thunder followed, "Aw, come on! They _just _broke up!"

The trio continued down the hallways.

"Excuse me." They heard Betsa's voice. They turned to see her approaching them.

"Hi." She greeted bashfully.

"Can we help you?" Donald asked, while Thunder was staring at her, drooling, "Oooh… you're pretty."

Donald elbowed him.

Betsa hesitated, "Yeah, hi." She then threw the bomb, "I'm looking for Prince Adam. He's the love of my life."

The gang looked at each other, stunned.

"The love of your life?" Taylor repeated.

"That's right! The love of my life!" Betsa exclaimed, suddenly feeling confident, "I'm Betsa and I don't care who he is with now. I'm here to see my man again."

"Oh boy." Donald sighed.

Taylor approached Betsa menacingly, "Okay, listen, freak show…"

"Freak show?" Thunder interrupted, coming between the girls, "She's a sexy thing!" he added.

Taylor rolled her eyes and went on, "Whatever." She snapped, "You ain't the love of his life anymore, okay? We—!" Taylor paused. An evil idea was forming into her mind.

"Hey, you know what? Why don't you meet him at the West Wing?" She smiled devilishly, "Yeah, I'm sure he'll welcome you with open arms."

"Or open claws!" Donald exclaimed, already knowing the evil plan Taylor was cooking up in her brain. Betsa was ready to take off when Thunder stopped her, "…OR, you could join us!" he added, "We're looking for Beast ourselves. Heck, we're looking for something he lost."

"HEY!" Taylor and Donald screamed at Thunder. Thunder looked confused, "What? What's wrong with telling her that he lost his Love Essence?"

Donald whacked Thunder in the head with his staff. "Ow…" Thunder groaned in pain.

"Love Essence?" Betsa appeared worried, "What's this about Love Essence?"

Taylor sighed, "Well, since dingbat Rian told you, your prince lost his Love Essence. So now he's back to his Beast form, and this time he's gone Berserk."

"And we have to find that Essence before the last Petal falls." Donald showed Betsa the Black Tulip. Two petals have fallen from the flower already. Betsa gasped dramatically, "Ohh, no. That's bad! We have to find his Love Essence right away." She said.

"Yeah, but just because you're what you call yourself, the Love of his Life, that doesn't mean he's gonna love you back when he gets back to normal." Donald warned, "He still loves Belle."

"Yeah, Belle is his present and his future." Taylor added, "So you may join us on this quest, but you cannot get your man, GOT IT?" she vehemently yelled that last word.

The frightened Betsa stepped back, "Ohh-kay. Did somebody put some Epinephrine in your coffee?"

"Ignore Taylor." Thunder approached Betsa, pushing Taylor out of the way. His eyes were still fixed on her, "She's just bitter 'cuz she doesn't have her love life anymore. Ohh my. What's that perfume? Pharaoh-Monet?"

"_Pheromone_." Donald corrected.

Thunder threw a hand in dismissal, "Whatever. Let's go, my love."

They continued down the hall when suddenly all the lights flashed out, startling the heroes. The only light that shone in the hall was the moonlight, but it was very faint and the heroes couldn't see each other.

"What just happened?" Taylor muttered.

"All the lights are gone." Thunder pointed out.

"I hate the dark." Donald mumbled.

"Stay together guys!" Thunder ordered and everyone gathered around, feeling surrounded all the sudden as yellow-beady eyes were emerging from the thickest shadows: Heartless!

"You're okay, Betsa?" Thunder asked the girl who quietly responded, "Yes… when I'm with you."

The Heartless jumped. The heroes summoned their weapons and quickly struck them down with couple of attacks. Thunder attacked with couple of Blitzes and a Stun Edge Combo. He blasted upcoming foes with Blast attack and send out reinforcements flying with his Thundara attack. Taylor kept reflecting enemies' attacks as more kept coming toward her. She then fended them off with couple Keyblade swings. Donald froze his enemies with his Blizzaga moves and sends them off flying with Comet-style attacks. Betsa, the only girl with no fighting talents kept looking back and forth with a panicky expression on her face. She suddenly felt separated from the gang.

A couple more Heartless dashed toward Thunder. "Oh no, you don't! BRAVE BEAM!" Thunder smirked before separating his Keyblade into two and began attacking his enemies mercilessly with infinite combos. He then combined his blades again into one massive cannon, "You're finished!" he yelled before shooting out a golden-colored beam, eradicating his enemies.

The enemies were defeated. The lights turned back on, and Thunder was out of breath, "Phew… that was a close one huh guys?"

"Uhh, Rian?" Taylor called him, "I think we're the only ones here."

Thunder noticed Donald and Betsa were missing.

"Uh? But… but where's Donald? And Betsa? Where's the love of my life?" Thunder yelled in panic.

"Seriously Rian. Still in the room here." Taylor muttered, still feeling green with jealousy.

* * *

We got more **Kingdom Hearts Trivia**!

(Where we ask fans everything about the development of the Kingdom Hearts series)

Hey everyone, It's Jean-Michel Elincio! Coolest guy ever, y' feel me? Anyway, got a quick question for ya:

As of NOW, what's the latest _Kingdom Hearts_ title? The real answer's coming soon.

* * *

Thunder and Taylor ran past another hall. They've been searching for Donald and Betsa everywhere for the past hour and still no sign of them.

"Dang it! Still no sign of them." Thunder sighed.

"And Donald has the enchanted tulip!" Taylor pointed out, "We don't know how much time we have left to restore Beast's Love Essence before his anniversary with Belle."

"If only we knew how it looked like." Thunder rubbed his chin.

Taylor shrugged, "Maybe it could look like a heart. Think about it: a heart is filled with all kinds of emotions, including…"

"…Love!" Thunder finished her sentence, "You're right Taylor! Maybe we need to find a heart." Thunder then sighed miserably, "I hope Betsa is okay."

Taylor smiled slyly, "Oh, I'm sure she is."

xXx

Somewhere in the castle, Donald was seen, all alone, carrying the enchanted tulip.

"Uhh… Rian? Taylor?" Donald called out but received no answers. He stared at the tulip, "Only three petals left. Oh boy!"

The servants found Donald. "Donald!" they called out to him.

"You found Beast's Love Essence yet?" Cogsworth asked.

"No." Donald mumbled, "But I lost three people."

"We can help!" Lumiere proposed.

Donald lit up, "Really?"

"Yeah! We can be the lookout to see if Belle is coming or not! That way we can warn you." Lumiere said.

"I thought we were doing that." Cogsworth reminded his friend.

"No we were slacking." Lumiere argued.

"No, _you _were slacking!" Cogsworth argued back.

"No, you!"

"NO, YOU!"

Beast broke through a wall, quickly sizing up Donald and the servants by surprise, "GRRAAAAAAWWWL!" he roared again.

"RUNNNN!" Donald screamed and the gang took off, with Beast giving chase.

The gang quickly separated and Donald was all alone again. "Ahh, phooey…" he mumbled.

xXx

Thunder and Taylor turned to yet another castle hall when they saw Matt. But Matt didn't see them for his back was turned to them.

"Hey, isn't that Matt?" Thunder pointed, "You should talk to him!"

"Yeah. And I should talk to my evil stepmother." Taylor sarcastically responded, "The only time I will ever talk to this guy is if he apologized for his mistake."

"Didn't he already do that?"

Taylor glared back at Thunder.

"I should shut up."

"No." Taylor grinned, pulling up her best mischievous smile, "_You_ should talk to him."

Thunder looked back at Taylor with a startling look, "What? I can't talk to him! He's gonna have my head!"

Taylor pushed Thunder toward Matt. "HEY YO MATT!" she screamed.

Matt turned around. Taylor quickly hid behind a soldier's statue. Thunder looked back, then looked at Matt. He gulped.

"Rian." Matt scoffed, saying his name in vain.

"What's up?" Thunder grinned, putting up his best innocent smile.

"What's up?" Matt scolded, "I'll tell you what's up? My girlfriend dumped me. And she found the perfect way to do so by kissing my best friend in front of me, and now I'm all alone with a broken heart. Now how's THAT for what's up?" he angrily approached Thunder. Thunder receded.

"Okay, I still sense anger in your heart…" Thunder chuckled nervously, "…but hey, I wasn't expecting that kiss either! It came out as a shock! And don't you think you're giving up too soon? You two are supposed to be like Romeo and Juliet, or Aphrodite and Adonis."

"Yeah, sure." Matt sounded sarcastic again, "You're more Adonis to her than I could ever be. She used me to get to you. She found you. She ended it with me. So why should I get back with someone who can't even apologize for actually using me to get what she wants? Now get out of my face before I actually make use of my Keyblade on you!"

"Okay, okay. You win. I'm leaving." Thunder backed off, "Sheesh man. For someone with a broken heart, you sure are cranky."

Matt glared back at Thunder.

"Gotta go!" Thunder took off, quickly rejoining Taylor who was still hiding.

"Well, now I know what's really in his heart." Taylor mumbled, as if to herself.

"You heard him." Thunder said, "He's miserable without you!"

"Let him." She replied, " 'Cuz I'm done with him and I can finally move on."

Thunder stared back at Taylor, surprise whizzing through him. There was this awkward moment of silence between the two friends.

"Really?" Thunder finally said to Taylor. He couldn't believe he just heard from the girl he's been vying for years— Or the girl that looks like her, he thought—said these words, "moving on!"

Taylor honestly nodded.

"So… you're saying you're done with Matt? Over? Finito? Complete?" he asked again, making sure he wasn't hearing things.

"Yeah." Taylor said, before a smirk passed over her lips, "Is that a problem… honey?"

His heart skipped a beat. He broadly smiled back, "Oh no!" he exclaimed, "Not at all! So, what should we do? Dinner and a movie?" he leaned toward her with his lips puckered up.

"Actually." Taylor walked away toward an empty guest room, avoiding the kiss, "We should get inside this room."

"Huh?" Thunder cocked a head on one side.

"I believe I found something… interesting, while you were talking to Matt." Taylor pointed out.

The confused Thunder suddenly lit up, "Ohh, is it Beast's Love Essence?" he asked, finally remembering their mission, "I totally forgot about that!"

Taylor hesitated. She had forgotten about that too. "Yeah, sure…" she played along, "Just come in. It won't take long…" she grinned again, "but it'll be pleasant."

xXx

Donald was finally on the East Wing. The tulip, still on his hands, was ready to lose another petal. Donald was becoming frantic.

"Aww, where could Thunder and Taylor be?" he exhaled, "And that Betsa too?"

He passed by a closet when he heard some muffling sounds. He stopped to listen. It sounded like someone was locked in.

"Who's there?"

The muffling grew louder, as if crying out for help in response to Donald's question. It sounded like a girl.

"Uh-oh. Must be Betsa." Donald thought. "Hold on, I'll get you out!"

Donald set the tulip aside and pulled on the doorknob. "Nggh! The door is locked on tight! I can't open it!"

The muffling cry of help turned to panic.

"Hold on, I'll bust this door out with my magic!" Donald pulled out his staff and pointed, "Eeneeme! Minnieme! Mileyme! BUST!"

A ball of light shot from Donald's staff and struck the door. The door vanished in dusts and out the closet came pouring out a massive flood of water. _WHOOOOOSSSH!_

Donald coughed out the water. He looked up at the person he just saved. "Hey are you all—!" he gasped, his eyes went wide.

"TAYLOR?"

Taylor coughed out the water. She looked up to Donald weakly. "Donald… you saved me…"

xXx

Moments later and Taylor (the REAL Taylor) was still slowly regaining her strength. She was still feeling cold from that cold crisp water closet she was trapped in. But she and Donald were not alone. Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Chip, and Armoire were with them, providing the almost drowning heroine warm towels and hot tea.

"What the quack happened to you?" Donald exclaimed, "Why were you in that closet? Filled with water?"

"What happened? I'll tell you what happened?" Taylor bitterly hissed, "I'll tell you EXACTLY what happened?"

"What happened?" Cogsworth asked.

"I dunno." Taylor sounded defeated, "it's still all blur."

"Don't worry about it, honey. It'll come back to you." Mrs. Potts said, "Care for some more Chamomile Tea?"

"And some more towel, dear?" Madame Armoire offered Taylor another warm blanket. Taylor took another sip of tea and snuggled with another blanket. The warmth in her body was coming back again. "Thank you guys." She said, "All I know is that we were separated during that power outage." She mentioned, "When we were attacked by heartless."

"Right." Donald agreed.

"But then I was knocked unconscious and stuffed into that small stuffy closet filling up with WATER, with little to no memory of how I even got there!" she then paused, "…but I do remember talking to someone while I was trapped inside."

"Who?"

The gang suddenly heard Lumiere screaming in panic. They watched him coming toward them in frantic panic.

"What's going on?" Cogsworth asked.

"Is it Beast again?" Donald asked.

"No!" Lumiere exclaimed, "It's Belle! She's in the CASTLE!"

"GAAASSSP!" everyone gasped.

Donald stared at the enchanted tulip, "Oh no! Only two petals LEFT!"

Taylor suddenly had that struck look on her face like she was remembering something extremely important!

xXx

_"Hey, what's going on here? Why am I in this closet?" She exclaimed. She looked up, staring frantically at the drops of water falling on her head, "And why is it dripping water?"_

_"Why hello, honey." The voice of Betsa spoke dramatically from the other side of the door, "Slept well?"_

_"Betsa?" Taylor exclaimed, peeking through the peephole of the closet to stare at her sly face, "What did you do? Why did you put me in this closet?"_

_"I did it for revenge."_

_"Why?"_

_"Uh… 'cuz you tried to throw me under the Gummi Ship by sending me straight to the Beast in Berserk Mode? Duh! And second of all, I wanna make sure that someone loses their heart here, while another gets theirs broken."_

_Taylor gasped, realizing something, "you talked to Matt?" she angrily said, "What did you say to him?"_

_"The truth." Betsa replied as she took a step back and twirled in place. A cloud of darkness overwhelmed her as she changed appearances. She now looked like Taylor herself! Taylor gasped._

_"He doesn't deserve you, or any of your friends." Betsa, in Taylor's guise, went on, "He's on his way to a new life as we speak. As of your other companion… the one you cheated Matt with? His heart… shall be mine." she whispered that last phrase seductively. _

_"Grr…" Taylor clenched her fists. Betsa snapped her finger and the crack on the ceiling that was dripping water spread out, letting more water to pour in. Taylor looked around in panic, with no way out._

_"Ohh, and by the way," Betsa said, "I'm not interested in Beast anymore. It was all an act. But I AM really a part of him. Happy swimming, dear." She giggled evilly. _

Taylor took a sharp breath. Everyone looked at Taylor, startled.

"WHAT? What is it?" Donald exclaimed.

"Betsa!" Taylor said the name again in vain, "She was it all along!" she faced the gang, "She's the reason why Matt and I broke up! She LOCKED me in that supply closet!"

"What?" the gang screamed.

"And she's after Rian's HEART!"

"WHAT?"

"And she's Beast's LOVE ESSENCE!"

"WHAAAAAT?"

"WHY ARE WE SCREAMING WHAT FOR?" Cogsworth exclaimed, "We gotta get a MOVE ON!"

The gang took off.

* * *

Here's your answer to the **Kingdom Hearts Trivia**!

As of now, the latest _Kingdom Hearts _title is Kingdom Hearts 3DS! Yeah, no kidding! The keyword trick here was 'as of NOW', and we all know that NOW, the latest is KH3DS instead of Birth by Sleep before E3. Tricky question huh?

* * *

Everyone was running down the grand hallways in panic, when Donald stopped, "Okay! What should we do?" he quacked, "Belle's in the Castle! Rian is nowhere to be found: most likely to get his heart ripped by Beast's Love Essence BETSA!"

"…who made sure that Matt and I stayed broken up, thank you very much!" Taylor exclaimed.

Donald's face turned red with fury. He ragingly grabbed Taylor by the colon and screamed, "YOU TWO BROKE UP BEFORE SHE EVEN SHOWED UP IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING AT ME FOR?" Taylor screamed back.

"CUZ YOU'RE THE ONE WHO GOT RID OF HIM, AND LET BETSA FINISH THE JOB!" Donald yelped.

"GAAASSP!" the offended Taylor gasped.

"Everybody settle down!" Lumiere tried to calm down the panicky party.

"We're doomed here people!" Cogsworth muttered, shuddering and rocking back and forth like a psychopathic person, "Belle's gonna find us like this again! We're doo-oo-oomed…"

"HEY!" Lumiere yelled, "WE servants, are gonna distract Belle!" He then faced Donald and Taylor, "While YOU two, YOU work on finding your partner, Beast's Love Essence, and Beast, so we can fix all of this before time runs out!"

Donald glanced at the Black Tulip on cue. Still only two petals left!

"MOVE IT!" Cogsworth screamed and everyone split.

xXx

"Hellooo…" Belle called out from the entryway, "Adam, my love! Are you here?"

No answer.

"Happy Anniversary!" Belle sang gleefully as she scampered up the stairs, "I brought you a little gift."

Suddenly a massive six-foot butler stood in Belle's way. The butler wore a large trenchcoat and hat to cover its face, but the voice speaking under the costume was Lumiere's "Ahh, Belle! What a pleasurable surprise to see you here."

"Oh, Lumiere! Is that you?" Belle said, stunned, "You startled me. Oh, my! How have you grown!"

"Oh why thank you ma Cherie. Been eatin' right."

"Is Adam upstairs? I'd like to see him."

"Oh, definitely, but you ain't going up without a password."

"Huh?" Belle cocked her head on one side, "A password?"

xXx

Meanwhile, Matt was at the courtyard when he suddenly felt a wave of guilt take over him. He shouldn't have snapped at Rian like that, he thought. It wasn't his fault that all of this had to happen.

"Man, why did I yell at him like that for?" he sighed, "Rian is innocent in all of this. He and Taylor are best friends after all, not lovers! And besides, Rian WAS the one who forgave me for my ever-shameful secret."

He sighed once more then turned back, "I gotta find him and apologize. It's the least I can do."

xXx

The fake Taylor— or Betsa—locked the door shut. Thunder looked around, immediately recognizing the room.

"This is Belle's bedroom." Thunder said, "Why are we even here?"

Betsa didn't reply. Instead she changed subjects, "Ah, finally." She turned to face him, smirk still on her face, "Alone at last."

"Are you okay?" Thunder asked the fake Taylor, cocking his head on one side. He's still had no idea that it was Betsa in disguise.

"Oh, come on, hon… aren't _you _the one who told me that I should move on and hook up… If you know what I mean? Growl." She let out a teasing growl.

Thunder appeared nervous. But he's not sure if he should like where this was going or he should be afraid, "Uhh… I guess so… WHOA!"

Betsa pushed Thunder onto the bed and crawled over to him, getting personal. Thunder gulped.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Betsa growled under her breath. She grabbed Thunder's shirt and ripped them in two, exposing his sweaty rockhard abs, glistening to the moonlight. "Let's… hook up." She whispered that last part, sultrily, before closing in on Thunder. Betsa's feral smile was captivating. Thunder's heart was pounding. Their lips were inches away from connecting when…

The door suddenly busted open, and Matt came in! He saw the duo! The duo saw him! His jaws dropped!

"WHAT THE F—FORNICATION IS THIS?" Matt screamed.

Thunder jumped off the bed. So did Betsa. "Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Matt!" he quickly ran up to him, panicking, "It's not… it's not what you think!"

"Yeah, it's not." Betsa interrupted, "We've moved on, honey. So you should."

Another door slammed open. It was Taylor—the REAL Taylor—and Donald! All eyes saw each other!

"Wrong answer, tramp!" Taylor yelled.

Matt's eyes boggled, "_TWO_ TAYLORS!" he yelped. Thunder was stunned.

"Get her!" Donald charged toward Betsa. Betsa jumped on the bed; her body suddenly turned to steel and knocked Donald unconscious. She glowered at the heroes who had cornered her.

"Actually, one…" Betsa hissed, "For you've left me NO CHOICE!"

She screamed a strident, deafening, demonic cry as her body was morphing into a giant snake with her female body attached to it on top: A Lamia! Her forehead bore the Unversed symbol with a skull on it.

"Blackheart!" Thunder gasped, recognizing that symbol. He then frowned disgustingly at that menace that was standing in bed in front of him. He couldn't believe he was ready to hook it up with _that_!"EEEWWWW!"

"That's right Rian." Taylor said to him, "She's not after your body, she's after your heart!"

Thunder looked even more surprised.

"And I intend to get it!" the Lamia yelled out before expanding her body into that of a massive python or anaconda, overwhelming the guest bedroom. The heroes prepped for combat.

Then the windows shattered inside the room, allowing Beast to break inside and scaring everyone.

"GRAWWL! I knew it. I KNEW I'D FIND MY TRAITORS HEEERRE!"

Not far downstairs, Belle heard Beast's voice, "Adam?" she then called him, "Beast?"

She tried to pass but the large butler costume blocked her way again. "Uhh... I'm-a sorry Princess, but yeeh cannae pass without a propa password!"

"Ok Lumiere. Enough with the joke and what's with the fake accent? There's no such thing as a password!" Belle angrily said before ripping the trenchcoat off. All animated objects flew off, exposed, including the mini big Ben ornament, the candlelight, the teapot and cup, and a couple of brooms and mops disguised underneath that trenchcoat to make a person. When Belle saw the servants in their curse forms again, she was stunned.

"Lumiere? Cogsworth? Mrs. Potts and Chip?" she exclaimed.

"Uhh… Hi, Miss Belle." the servants nervously waved to her.

"Beautiful night isn't it dear huh?" Mrs. Potts asked, trying to distract her further.

Belle crossed her arms, "Lemme guess: Adam got cursed again?"

The servants hesitated.

"All right fine! You got us!" Cogsworth screamed. "Adam got cursed again! But FOR THE LOVE OF ALL HEARTS, PLEASE DON'T GO UP!"

But Belle went right past them and headed for the stairs. The servants panicked, "No, no, no, no, no, no!"

"You idiot!" Lumiere screamed at Cogsworth, "Now she's gonna find out for real!"

"I thought she already did." Cogsworth mumbled.

xXx

"You are trapped now… worthless piece of runts!" Beast bellowed, cornering everyone in the room. "GRAAWWWL!" he charged toward the heroes who screamed in panic.

Thunder jumped, dodging the attack. Beast rammed into a wall. He quickly recovered and delivered a slash, knocking both Donald and Taylor down. Matt suddenly jumped on Beast's back and with his Keyblade on hand, restrained him by the neck. Beast kept thrashing and tossing about. But Matt was still holding him straight. The Lamia seized her chance to escape.

"Get that creature now!" Matt yelled, watching the creature's tail disappearing to a corner.

"She's getting away!" Donald exclaimed.

"Let's get her!" Thunder ordered, and as the gang were storming out of the bedroom, he stopped to notice he was still shirtless, "oh, right." He moved his hands over his shoulders as if popping up his collar and a new t-shirt similar to his old one magically popped in. The gang took off, but Matt who was still restraining Beast stayed behind.

"Matt!" Taylor called out to her boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend).

"Don't worry about me! Just go get that thing! NOW!" Matt shouted out. Beast was still fighting to break free, "GRAaAWWWLL!"

"I'll be okay." Matt gave Taylor a reassuring wink, letting her know that he's gonna make it. Taylor smiled back, but she was reluctant to leave him alone. She finally took off.

xXx

The gang bumped into the panicky servants.

"Where is Beast?" Cogsworth screamed from the top of his lung, "And why are we still NOT BACK TO NORMAL?"

"What's up with you all?" Taylor asked.

"Oh, Belle's coming up the stairs to see Beast as we speak. Nuttin' big." Lumiere said with a shrug, almost sounding like everything was okay.

"Nothing BIG?" Cogsworth shouted back, "LOOK!" he pointed at the black tulip Donald was still holding. "ONLY ONE PETAL LEFT! GET BEAST BACK TO NORMAL NAAAOWW!"

The gang took off again without a second to waste. They kept running, running, and running down halls and halls… until they stopped, face-to-face with Belle!

"Belle!" the gang said together.

"Thunder? Sol?" Belle exclaimed, "Donald?" she noticed the black tulip he was holding. "Okay, is there's something that you're not telling me?" The angry princess asked, hands on her hips.

The gang hesitated.

"Maybe there is something that you're not telling _me_, princess." Thunder smiled at Belle, raising his eyebrow flirtatiously.

"Aw, come on!" Taylor and Donald hollered in disgust, and Belle looked on flabbergasted.

"What?" Thunder protested, "She's the one flirting."

"Okay, first of all, I don't date children." Belle said, "And second of all, where's Adam?" she asked firmly.

"He's not in your bedroom thrashing the place about, if that's what you're askin'!" Taylor quickly said. Donald whacked her with her staff again.

"We're just having some last-minute prep for your anniversary." Donald said with a calm tone and a big grin on his face, "This won't take long."

"…but what's with the—!"

"BYE!" the gang zoomed right past Belle again, leaving her questionably puzzled, "…the enchanted tulip?" she finished her question. "GRRR!"

xXx

The gang reached the Grand Ballroom. It was empty but spacious. So spacious that even whispers could be heard in echoes.

"I could have sworn I saw that creature slipped into this room." Thunder said.

"Where could she be?" Donald wondered.

"Hey, Beastly freak!" Taylor shouted, "We know you're in here! So don't try to slip past us!"

A dark cloud suddenly immersed and enveloped the ballroom's chandelier, blacking out the place again like last time. The cloud began to swirl and formed into a massive shape.

"It's dark again…" Thunder pointed out.

Then out of the blue, the shape came out as the Lamia's snake tail; twice as massive as a tree trunk, it came out swinging hard and struck Thunder full-force. Thunder went flying across the room like a speeding train, smashed right through the balcony's glass doors and fell unconscious.

"RIAN!" Donald and Taylor screamed for their friend. They ran to his aid, but an invisible wall magically blocked their path, and the snake's large slithering body circled around the ballroom, sizing up the party.

"Oh, he's gonna be fine…" the Lamia, who now took on a colossal size, spoke a booming evil voice, "…he's gonna be fine, just as long as you make a deal with me."

Her snake long body and tail took over the ballroom.

"What do you want?" Taylor angrily said.

"You've wanted Beast's Love Essence all along, and now you have it. Right in front of you." The Lamia provoked, "But the price is no money, no object, just… your little companion's Heart. And nothing more."

"Forget it!" Donald and Taylor said together.

"We're not gonna sacrifice our friend just so that we can save another!" Taylor said.

"Yeah! It's all or nothing!" Donald snapped.

Right on cue, the last tulip petal fell off to the heroes' shock.

"Oh no…" Taylor breathed, "The spell… it's now permanent."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The heroes heard clapping. They looked up and they saw Tidicus coming toward them, applauding. An evil smirk was on his face.

"Well then, I shall congratulate you all for coming this far on your meddling…" Tidicus said, "…oops. I meant your journey."

He then noticed the enchanted tulip was no longer living, "Well, look at that! The last fallen tulip petal, right on cue. I take it that your mission came to a failure, right? Finally! Sigh… now I don't know if I should say 'I'm so sorry' or 'good riddance, serves you right'? Help me out here."

"You jerk!" Donald tossed the glass down, shattering it to pieces. He pulled out his staff, "We should've known you were behind it ALL!"

He ran toward Tidicus. Tidicus floated backward and slowly disappeared into the night. "Well, come and get me then, little balls of sunshine! I shall await you… if you can pass by my beautiful Lamia!"

On cue the Lamia's face, as giant as the moonlight blocked Donald's way. She hissed and her eyes flashed bright. Donald is knocked backward like the wind swept him off his feet.

"DONALD!" Taylor screamed.

"NYEEK! NYEK! NYEK! NYEK!" the snake laughed, as more snake tails started growing out of her colossal body like vines of an invasive weed.

Taylor transformed into Soledad and immediately her Keyblade is summoned.

"CHAAARRGE!" The snake raised one of her tails and hammered down on Soledad, but she nimbly dodge-rolled the attack. She recovered and saw snake tail coming down on her. She dodge rolled them again. Dozen of snake tails came down on her and she managed to dodge all of them. She stopped to catch her breath, but the Lamia sent another tail attack and this time struck Soledad backward. Soledad wall-jumped on a pillar to break her fall, and flew right toward the Lamia.

"NYEEK! NYEK! NYEK! NYEK!" the Lamia laughed again. "FIRE!" Soledad aimed her Keyblade and shot a Fire attack. No damage to the Lamia. "YoU cAnNoT dEfEaT mEeEeE! NYEEK! NYEK! NYEK!"

The Lamia raised her arms up and a flurry of fireball rained down on Soledad, striking her with a flurry of combos, knocking her right through a pillar. Soledad tried to get up, but the damage she received was too much.

"…dang it." Soledad gasped, "Donald… Rian…"

Donald and Thunder were both still unconscious.

"RAAAAAWWL!" The Lamia charged her snake tails again toward Soledad. Soledad raised her Keyblade in an attempt to block the attack. The snake tails suddenly burned to crisp right in front of her. The Lamia cried in pain.

Soledad saw Matt, as Cross, on top of the Lamia's body. Keyblade pointed at Soledad, the Keyblade heroine knew he was the one who casted Fire on her attackers.

"Matt?"

The Lamia twisted her head to see Cross, "WHAT?" she angrily barked, "YoU! We HaD a DeAl!"

Cross changed Style Mode to Tornado Fury. His body suddenly felt light and was covered in Aeroga and Firaga spells. He jumped off her body and charged toward her in a mighty breeze, striking her right through her neck, causing a hole. "GAaaaAAAh!"

Cross landed right besides Soledad. "Oh we have a deal alright." He faced the Lamia, "We have a deal that NO mongrels like you should tell me who I shouldn't hang out with, and who I shouldn't date!" he faced Sol again; "I make that decision."

Soledad smiled. Cross smiled back.

"GRAAAAWWWLL!" The Lamia's neck recovered, "ThEn YoU'Re DeAd To Me!"

The Lamia sent out more fireballs rain on the two heroes. Cross telepathically raised his Keyblade, casting Reflect. The Fireball struck the Reflect shield, and the Reflect shot back a combo of Aeroga and Firaga, striking the Lamia. The duo seized their chance to go to Donald, but the damaged Lamia quickly recovered.

"Donald, wake up man! Wake up!" Cross shook the duck to consciousness.

"LOOK OUT!" Sol screamed. Another snake tail struck the heroes, knocking them apart. The snake tails kept attacking, dealing massive damages at the teens.

"NYEEK! NYEK! NYEK! NYEK!" the Lamia laughed again.

"Oh, no you didn't!" Matt charged on the Lamia again and landed on her body. He swung consecutive strikes on her snake tails as he ran down her body. He finally reached her face and jumped.

"TORNADO FURY" He furiously swung his blade; sending out flurry of slashes as he teleported in various locations. He then spun in midair and casted his best Aeroga/Firaga spell, overwhelming the snake, then dove like a meteor on its target with a powerful finishing combo move similar to Sora Final Strike/Final Arts. Cross landed on the ground and looked up. The Lamia still had little scratch on her after all that attack. "What?" Cross gasped, breathlessly. "CHAAAARRRGGE!" the Lamia's eyes flashed again and Cross is blown off to a wall. "CROSS!" Sol screamed. Cross quickly stood up, but he looked dazed like he was seeing stars, "I'm okay…" he mumbled. "GRAAAAWWWLL!" The Lamia raised her arms up and a flurry of fireball rained down on Cross. Cross casted Reflect, blocking all the fireballs. But the fireballs just kept on coming and Cross grew tired. Before he knew it, Beast was in front of him, reflecting all the fireballs himself with his claws. The fireballs struck the snake mercilessly. Beast let out a ferocious roar and air-dashed toward the snake. He grabbed her by the neck, restraining her. The Lamia struggled. "STRIKE HER HEART! NOW!" Beast roared.

Cross and Soledad nodded.

"And my demons lay in waiting…" Cross said then Soledad added, "…tempting me away!"

Cross concentrated all of his Wind power on his Keyblade then swung upward to the ceiling to cast a powerful Gust. Soledad jumped over Cross and unleashed her Focus Mode SunRise. As Soledad sent wave of fires toward Cross's Gust attack, Cross unleashed his _own _Focus Mode Phoenix on his Gust attack. He sent out waves of fires on the Gust to create his Phoenix. The Phoenix grew twice its size as it received multiple fires.

"Phoenix of the SunRise's Breeze!" Cross and Soledad cried out before using the Gust spell with their Keyblade to send the Phoenix flying straight to the Lamia's heart. The Phoenix struck the Lamia right through, burning the enemy's entire body as well as its snake tails companions. Beast let go off the snake to avoid getting burned.

"CHAAAAARRRRRR! GRAAAAAAWWWWLL! GNYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The Lamia hissed in pain and vanished in pieces of flames, leaving behind a Heart. The Heart floated at will toward Beast and dissolved into his chest.

"Groan…" Beast went down on his knees as light took over his body, alerting Cross and Soledad. Donald and Thunder woke up from their unconsciousness and watched as Beast's body transformed back into a magnificent prince before their very eyes. The prince then fell asleep as if nothing happened.

"All right! Beast is back to normal!" Donald jumped of joy and rejoined the group, so did Thunder. Cross and Soledad returned to their regular forms.

"You guys are all right!" Taylor said to Donald and Thunder.

"Now that Beast is back, we sure are." Thunder joked. Matt elbowed Thunder. "What?" Thunder protested.

"You were out the entire battle, and you're joking now?" Matt angrily said to Thunder.

"Hey, don't blame a player for not being prepared for the game!" Thunder exclaimed, "I was caught by surprise here."

The Prince woke up. He looked around groggily, "Uhh… what happened? What am I doing here in this ballroom?" he then faced the heroes, "Thunder…? Soledad and Cross? And Donald?"

"You're all right. Thank goodness you're not a Beast anymore." Taylor said to the Prince.

"And not in Berserk Mode too." Donald added, "What a relief."

_Aaaargh!_ The gang heard Tidicus's scream echoing in the ballroom. The heroes must have forgotten about him. They turned to face him.

"What have you done with my precious Lamia? My beautiful slither of passion and destruction? She's… she's…!"

"Uhh… gone, destroyed, her head cut off?" Thunder said and the heroes laughed on cue.

"By the way Tidicus," Taylor said, "next time you wanna put a fake enchanted tulip for show, use your hair!" she pointed out Tidicus's full hair that was similar to Kuja's.

"You mean head?" Tidicus asked.

"No, she means hair." Thunder added, "You'll be bald at the last fallen petal!"

Everyone laughed out loud.

Tidicus glowered at the cheering heroes, "YOU are not going to see the last of us, Keyblade freaks! YOU HEAR ME? I've destroyed you once! I will destroy you again! YOU'LL SEE!"

Tidicus vanished as the Corridor of Darkness engulfed him like a bed sheet.

"Destroyed us before?" Taylor said, chuckling, "Please, in their dreams."

"Right, guys?" Matt said to Donald and Thunder, who nervously laughed along, "Yeah… pssht. Like they did before…!"

xXx

Moments later since the battle and everything in the castle has returned to normal. Beast was the handsome prince Adam again, and his servants were once again back in their regular human forms. As for Belle, she was reunited with her love just in time to celebrate their one-year anniversary and was caught up with all that went down in the Castle.

The couple were in the ballroom, which was set up to look like a fine restaurant, with fancy tables and chairs and dishes, and the most exquisite foods… all served and catered by the Prince's royal servants.

"I don't know how much I can thank you all for helping out my love in time of need." Belle said, before facing Adam, "But, sigh… if only I knew, I could've helped sooner."

Adam gave Belle a reassuring smile, "Hey, it's okay, my love. At least you were not hurt when all that happened."

"Cuz that's what we all care about: your safety, Princess." Lumiere proudly said. Cogsworth elbowed him to keep him quiet. Lumiere shrugged, "What? It's true."

Adam faced the servants, "I should thank you guys also, for standing by me…" he then faced the heroes, "…and thank you for bringing me back to the way I was. Ever since I learned to love Belle, I learned to love everyone else as well. And that is something I will always treasure: Love."

The prince and princess smiled at each other before sharing a kiss.

"Aww… love." Thunder grinned, before facing Matt and Taylor, "Y'hear that guys? Love. Don't you just love Love?"

Matt and Taylor tried not to look at each other.

"Speaking of thanks," Adam ordered a soldier to approach the table. The soldier was carrying a silver box, "Sol. Cross." He called Matt and Taylor by their KH names, "I want you two to have this. It's a token of my gratitude for bringing me back to my senses."

The soldier opened the silver box to reveal two Charms. Taylor and Matt picked up the Charms, admiring them in awe.

"It's The Lion's Charm and the Dark Roar's Charm." Adam said, "They were gifts from my parents on their Wedding Day. There're supposed to bring true happiness with your loved ones. I also think that it holds an incredible power."

"What power?" Donald curiously asked.

"I think you'll have to figure it out yourselves." Belle said.

"Wow! It's really… It's really beautiful. Thank you." Taylor complimented.

"…yeah. Nothing ever seen or—!" Matt stopped, remembering that line. That was the exact line Taylor said earlier when she was being sarcastic. The duo looked at each other. There was this awkward silence in the room.

"You know what?" Taylor quickly said to the Disney couple, "We should probably head out! Let you lovebirds enjoy your anniversary." She quickly ran out and the rest of the heroes followed, waving goodbye and wishing happy anniversary as well.

Taylor was at the Entrance Hall when Matt called her, "Taylor!"

She stopped, turned on her heels and faced him.

"Hey, you're all right?" he asked.

Taylor shrugged, "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well…" Matt hesitated, "You just took off like… something was bothering you."

Taylor stayed muted, her eyes stared on the floor.

"Does it have to do with…" Matt hesitated again, "…you know. Our little mishap?"

Taylor looked up, "Mishap? You mean breakup?"

Matt blinked, "…unless you wanna call it breakup… then…"

Taylor shook her head. Awkward silence.

"Okay, fine! You broke me! I want you back, allright?" she snapped.

Matt looked surprised.

"I'm sorry for my little… mishap back there."

Matt smiled, "You said mishap?"

Taylor nodded. As the couple was talking, Donald and Thunder were watching nearby.

"Hey, _I'm_ the one who should be sorry." Matt said, "I was too stressed out about the whole secret and…"

"Forget it."

"Huh?"

"Forget it. It was your secret, and I understand why you wanted to keep it in the dark. What matters now is the future."

"…so, we're… we're okay now?"

Taylor shook her head, "We're not okay." Matt looked stunned. But then Taylor added with a smile, "We're awesome."

Matt smiled back.

"Aww!"

The couple turned to face Thunder who just ruined the moment, "Now wasn't that so hard? You guys are back together!"

"Way to ruin a moment, Rian." Donald said.

"Hey, it's all thanks to my matchmaking skills that you two are all right again!" Thunder protested.

"Matchmaking skills?" Matt squinted.

"Last time you ever done some matchmaking was with a freaky woman snake." Taylor said, and everyone but Thunder laughed.

"HEY! In my defense, she wasn't…" Thunder hesitated, "…pretty! In her real form, mind you! But…"

Everyone walked away, still laughing. But Thunder kept talking and protesting.

xXx

Tidicus was sitting in the middle of nowhere with his thoughts running deeply, and his fingers running to each other; like a little boy who knew that he was gonna get in big trouble with his parents when he got home. In this case, home was the Blackheart Dominion, and his parents were… well, just one: Alistare, the Mastermind. Cold-blooded and ruthless member, he was now leader of the Dominion. It wasn't long since Alistare took the place of Maurchel after he mercilessly killed him so that he can shift the Dominion's plan in motion to take on Kingdom Hearts. And to have power over the Heart of all Worlds, and all worlds as well, he gotta collect the Hearts of Pure Bravery and Pure Light.

…and Tidicus was unsuccessful. Taking away Beast's Love Essence was all a scheme to lure the heroes to their trap, and he got pawned again.

"Tidicus!" a voice startled him. He turned to see Phantamis, a solemn expression was on his face.

"Phantamis!"

"We got a problem."

"I can explain!"

"No chiz." Phantamis said, "There's been a breach at the Lounge. That Blazen guy escaped!"

"What?"

**On the Next upcoming Chapters of KH3 Online HD  
**_(scenes subject to change in the episodes)_

"What do you mean he escaped?" Tidicus shouted in panic.

"I mean he's gone. Gone like the Wind!" Phantamis argued.

xXx

"Find this Keyblade freak! NOW!" Alistare roared.

xXx

"We have finally found it," said Yen Sid to King Mickey, "our Keyblade Champion."

**

* * *

***Look for the KH3Online HD prequel***  
KH: Keyblade Riders  
**_(to be published 9-9-10)_

**

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Next Chapter**:: _The Escape_


	22. Finale: The Escape

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix. **

**The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.**

**Author's Note:** Did anyone watched "Make it or Break it" last night? If not, then you missed your chance to see the Birth by Sleep commercial, as the show was sponsored by that game. Either way, I'm just so excited for its release. Only 6 more days and counting. And also to celebrate, a new KH fanfic: Keyblade Riders will be published. Look for it very soon.

Now, this episode is going to be the longest one I've written. So get ready for the beauties and the craziness :D**  
**

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**::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::**

_**-**The Escape**-**_

* * *

"Tidicus!"

A voice has startled the Blackheart member, who was deep in thought on the failure he had recently at Beast's Castle. He turned around to see Phantamis approaching with a solemn look on his face.

"Phantamis!"

"We got a problem."

"I can explain!"

"No chiz." Phantamis said, "There's been a breach at the Lounge. That Blazen guy escaped!"

"What? What do you mean he escaped?" Tidicus shouted in panic.

"I mean he's gone. Gone like the Wind!" Phantamis argued, "What? You thought I meant he found a magical pink pony and rode outta there up to a rainbow road to candy land?"

"Y'know, sometimes, your words hurt."

"Come on!" Phantamis opened the dark corridor, "We gotta head back to base and help the others find him."

"I'm not going back there!" Tidicus exclaimed, "That Alistare guy is psycho and he doesn't tolerate failure! Look what he did to our leader Maurchel!"

"If you don't come with me now, we'll all be facing failure to his face. We'll deal with that Rian boy later! But now let's move!"

Phantamis grabbed Tidicus by his coat and shoved him into that corridor where he was heard screaming. Phantamis then proceeded down the corridor.

**-Dominion's Lounge-**

"How can he have escaped?" Firias said, "We took away his powers! ALL OF THEM!"

He and his Dominion fellows, Samshall, Sage, Ivy, Denzol and Percicle, had gathered around the spot where Blazen was held captive. Where the stone wall used to be, was nothing more than a black burnt stain, as if the stone wall got burst into flames.

"Obviously, somebody has been helping him…" Samshall said under his breath.

The dark corridor opened up and shot out Tidicus. Phantamis followed and closed the portal, "Any news?" he asked.

"Not since you left." Samshall added.

" 'bout time you showed up." Denzol said angrily to Tidicus.

"Obviously, I was forced against my will." Tidicus commented.

"We heard about your failure." Ivy said to Tidicus.

"How did you know?" Tidicus exclaimed.

"We just knew." Sage said, adjusting her glasses.

"And the look on your face says it all." Percicle added.

"Okay, why are we standing around here talking like high school gossipmongers? When there's a fugitive on the loose?" Phantamis said.

"What fugitive?" the voice of Alistare startled the group, especially Tidicus who freaked out.

"Omgosh-Omgosh-omgosh!" he ran up to hide behind Ivy.

"What's going on?" Alistare asked, suddenly feeling the silence among the group, "Are you all plotting behind my back?"

The members shook their heads.

"Why would you even think that, Alistare?" Samshall asked.

"Because the last time there was plotting, somebody betrayed me. Not like I'm not pointing out names or any—!" Alistare stopped talking, his eyes dilated. "WHAT?"

All eyes turned to what he was staring at: the burnt stain! Alistare knows Talen escaped! The members nervously looked at each other.

"Where's the prisoner?" he barked.

"He's been moved." Percicle lied, with a genuine look on his face, "to solitary confinement, remember?" Percicle then revealed to Alistare a floating ball of light and burning fire gracefully hovering above his hand: Talen's Keyblade powers.

"You told us to take care of him once we're done extracting all of his Keyblade Magic from him." He added.

Alistare glared across the members, "Is it true? Cuz he lies… a lot."

Everyone responded with collective nodding and agreement; everyone except Tidicus who suddenly freaked out, "ALL RIGHT FINE!" he yelped, "You busted us! Phantamis called me and informed me that our prisoner was gone and escaped! So we came out here as soon as we could and we noticed that he's been helped by somebody else who breached into our lounge, which explain the burnt stain! And look, I failed you back at Beast's Castle, all right? So please, don't kill me the same way you killed Maurchel! Just PLEEAAAASE!"

All eyes glared angrily at Tidicus. Tidicus gulped, "Oops…"

"WHHAAAAT?" Alistare barked, before facing Percicle, "You LIED to me! You AAALLL lied to me!"

"They don't call me deceptive for nothing." Percicle mumbled as if he didn't care.

"What are you standing around here for? Find this Keyblade freak! NOW!" he roared.

The members dispersed. Alistare grabbed Tidicus by his arm and glowered, "And you…we're gonna have a serious talk about this once this is over."

"Gulp…"

The Blackheart members were moving around the lounge like ants… to the eyes of a mysterious Keyblade knight who was watching from above. The knight had a suit of armor of ruby and charcoal blend color. His helmet was pointy on top, like Blazen's pointy head, and he donned a black cape. He carried on his arms an unconscious Talen.

_Hmph! Pathetic fools. _He mumbled through his mask.

"Ngh…" Talen was waking up, catching the mysterious Keyblade Knight's attention. "Uh… what's going on… huh? Whoaa!"

_Quiet. _The knight covered Talen's mouth with his hands.

"What?" The dominion members looked up right on cue for the Keyblade Knight to vanish into thin air.

"I saw something!" screamed Ivy.

"Then move out!" Samshall ordered and they all took off again.

xXx

* * *

**Keyblade Graveyard**

Rian, in his knight form, shot out from the sky and landed his Motorbike touchdown on the deserted soil of Keyblade Graveyard. He got off the bike and snapped a finger. The bike vanished in light. His armor vanished, reverted him back to his regular form, as he was walking further down the desert.

He looked around, "Now, I could have sworn I heard someone crying for help in my vision." he thought, "Oh god… I hope he didn't—!"

He banished that bad thought from his mind, "No man, focus!" he said to himself, "He didn't." he sighed heavily, knowing that time was running out, "Okay…"

"HELLOOOOOOO!" He let out a big shout. An echo followed, ripping through the deserted gloomy place.

No answer.

"YOOOO! Can you hear me out here?"

Still no answer.

He sighed, "Guess I'm gonna have to find him."

And so Rian ventured down the deserted plains until he reached the fissure down to the graveyard, where lo and behold, he saw thousands of Keyblade. Their blades were planted to the ground, looking all worn out and battered up. Just staring at these blades, bought chills down his spine.

"…whoa." His voice quivered, "…this is way different than what I saw in the game." He then faced forward, trying to sound bold, "…all right, I'm still going…"

A couple more steps forward and his Keyblade suddenly came to him. "Huh?"

The Keyblade floated off from his grasp at will and pointed a thin long beam of light, revealing him a new direction. Rian took off running toward that direction. He kept on running and running down the fields of Keyblade, until he reached a bright portal of light.

Before Rian knew it, he found himself in a freaky secluded crypt. The walls were cold, there were no light… but they weren't the one thing that caught Rian's eyes at that moment. It was a silver-marbled sarcophagus, with a Keyblade—an actual Keyblade—engraved on it. The Keyblade looked very much different than all the others for there were some drawings on that Keyblade too; like the kind of drawings you could find in the cover of a magical book.

Rian got even more nervous. He cautiously approached the tomb. He didn't even notice that by the time he was in here, that his Keyblade was gone.

Another flash of light emitted from behind him alerted him again that his Keyblade hasn't left him this whole time, but was floating behind him. The Keyblade willingly reached the tomb and laid itself to rest right on the tomb's Keyblade engraving. The sarcophagus suddenly got enveloped in a bright glow, completely blinding the entire crypt.

Light once again vanished, and the sarcophagus' lid was gone. So was Rian's Keyblade. Rian cautiously approached the opened tomb and slowly peeked inside. He saw a violet-haired young man, lifeless, as if he was laid to rest here. He wore pair of crescent-shaped specs, a black suit with a black tie and pants, and over his suit wore a black trench coat with white fur trim on the coat's collar.

"What the…?"

The young man's eyelids flew open, revealing his bright yellow-colored eyes through his specs. Rian jumped, spooked at his sudden awakening.

He summoned his Keyblade and cautiously pointed at him. "Who are you?" Rian's voice rose up.

The young man, without saying a word, lifted his back up, sitting down. His eyes, dull as a lifeless body briefly stared into space before staring into Rian who was still pointing his weapon.

"Look man, if you're one of them Blackhearts—!"

"You…" the young man spoke, "…you saved me…"

"Huh?"

"You… came to save me… did you…?"

Rian stammered, "…uhh… w-well… I…?" his Keyblade vanished, "…I just…?"

The young man slowly stood up; his eyes were still looking dull and unemotional, much to Rian's dismay. He got off the sarcophagus, slowly crept past him and stopped, two feet away.

"Who are you?" Rian asked.

The young man slowly turned around to face him. And then as if without warning, his Keyblade came to him. It looked exactly like the one in the engraving.

"…Keyblade…" Rian gasped.

"…You asked for my name? I do not know." The young man said, "…all I know is that I was locked in here… laid to perish…"

"…wait, you're the one I heard in my vision… right?" Rian said, "…wait, if you don't know who you are then… I guess I have a pretty good idea of who you might be?"

"Do you know something?" mumbled the young man.

Rian was about to respond when a loud crash rocked the entire chamber. BOOOM! RATARATARATA! The whole place began to shake violently. Debris were falling and the earth began to split. Rian looked around for a way out. He finally found it: a bright light!

"Come on!" Rian grabbed the young man's arm and together they ran out of the crypt.

The moment he was out, he saw a thousand heartless, cornering him and the young man.

"STAY BACK!" Rian pointed his Keyblade at the creatures. The creatures wiggled backwards, as if they were preparing to attack or ready to retreat. Rian tossed his Keyblade into the air, and it transformed into his Motorbike. Once again, he was back in his knight form. He jumped onto the bike along with the young man on the back seat, and revved up the bike. He mad-dashed through the thousand heartless, defeating them by colossal numbers with Air Gyre and Charge attacks. Finally he and the young man escaped, vanishing from the graveyard into the sky.

**-Mysterious Tower-**

"Mickey."

Mickey heard Master Yen Sid calling. The alerted mouse quickly reached him to his chamber where he found him staring out the window.

"Master Yen Sid." Mickey said, "What is it? Is something the matter?"

"We have finally found him." Yen Sid responded before facing King Mickey, "our Keyblade Champion."

* * *

A/N: **Due to technical error from the site, the next KHIII Online HD episode got updated to a new story.**

So without further ado, check out **KHIII Online HD, Volume II **for more epic quests across the KH universe.


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